Junior Citizen Scientist Program in KSA - The reaction between water and acids/bases

Participants: Juman Aymen Abujawher, Zainab Hussain Al-Mokhtar, Batool Ali Al-Thowimer, Fatema Bader Al Mahrous, Hussain Yasser Alshikh, Sara Ahmad Al Mohsin, Mohammed Taysir Al Makhamel

Organizing team: Hassan Alsadah, Alanoud Alafif, Ethar Alebrahem, Raghd Mugharbil, Fatimah Ashour, Jenan Almadeh

Proofreader: Hussein A. Yousif (ReachSci Hubs Senior Director)

We launched a program that was two weeks long held on 09/12/2023 and 16/12/2023, in which high school students who were interested in research were invited to participate. In the program, we explained the basics of research and we introduced a simple experiment that revolved around the interaction between water and acids/bases to the students. The experiment could be done virtually, in which students chose a liquid that was either an acid or base and they diluted it with water and measured the levels of pH. We asked the students to log the data on an excel spreadsheet and present it on a scatterplot graph. There was also a word file with three questions that the students needed to answer. Examples of some of the work the students did can be found in the appendix.

All the students who participated in the experiment did it virtually. During the experiment, three students chose orange juice, two chose blood, one chose soda, and one chose coffee. In 71% of the cases, the liquid became more acidic and in 29% of the cases the liquid became more basic. (see Figure 1) The pH levels increased in 57% of the experiment, while it decreased in 43% of the other cases. The students who did the test on orange juice, noticed that the liquid is an acid and that the pH levels increased after adding water. For the students who did the experiment on blood, they noticed that the liquid is basic and that the pH levels decreased when they added water. Additionally, the student who did the experiment on soda noticed that it is acidic and that the pH levels increased after adding water. Finally, the student who did the experiment on coffee noticed that it is acidic and that the pH levels increased when water was added.

This research serves as an introduction to research to all highschool students who have an interest in research. Anyone who showed interest during the sessions and submitted their work fully will be qualified to participate in other programs of higher levels. Eventually, this will lead to having more qualified people that might contribute to the research in Saudi Arabia.

We would like to thank Tanmiat Al Hella organization for providing us with a suitable place to launch this program safely. We would also like to thank the volunteers at ReachSci for their generous help. Finally, we would like to thank all the enthusiastic students who took the time to attend the program and write the report.

Appendix1: An example of an excel sheet for acidic fluid (orange juice)

Appendix 2: An example of an excel sheet for basic fluid (blood):

Appendix 3: An example of the questions in the word file and the answers for basic fluid (blood)