Is There a Connection between Water Desalination and Making Pickles?

Is There a Connection between Water Desalination and Making Pickles?
Arabic

Instructor pointing to pickle jars

Instructors

Dr. Abdul Muttaleb Yousef Mohammed Jaber
Chemistry Department
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Currently, a professor of Analytical Chemistry
Philadelphia University
Jordan

Faten Shaheed Ardekany
Project Manager
MIT BLOSSOMS Initiative in Saudi Arabia
Sultan Bin AbdulAziz Science & Technology Center (Scitech)
Khobar, Saudi Arabia

Introduction

The objective of this lesson is to get students acquainted with the basic principles of sea water desalination and to make them appreciate the importance of sea water desalination in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia due to the scarcity of fresh water natural resources. This requires a discussion of osmosis and reverse osmosis as the fundamental physical properties upon which sea water desalination works. To complete the picture, the reverse osmosis technology is investigated. This lesson does not need deep scientific knowledge by students. It is enough that the students know the difference between fresh and saline water, and are able to understand focus pressure and percentage of units and the membrane force and the quasi-force. The video time of this lesson is 27 minutes, allowing 21 minutes of classroom activities. There are two main activities need to be conducted by the students at home, individually or in groups. The procedures and the necessary materials and tools are identified in the video lesson.

Instructor Biography

Professor  Abdul Muttaleb Jaber received his B.SC degree in Chemistry / Honor class  from the University of Alexandria / Egypt, and received his Ph.D. from the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology, UWIST (currently, Cardiff University), Cardiff, United Kingdom. He worked as a faculty member in Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry at the University of Jordan / Amman - Jordan and King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals / Dhahran - Saudi Arabia. Currently, he is a Professor of Analytical Chemistry at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Philadelphia University - Jordan, and the director of Quality Assurance and Accreditation at the University. In addition to his teaching duties he is engaged in research areas related to design and applications of analytical instrumentation in environmental, pharmaceutical, and petroleum fields. He contributed to authoring and translating books in chemistry and academic development for students of secondary and university levels. He is also engaged in the academic development, quality and accreditation of the academic programs and higher education institutions. It is possible to access details of this information on the website: University of Petroleum & Minerals Webpage and Philadelphia University Webpage.

Faten Ardekany has over 10 years’ experience performing roles as Project Manager/ Business Consultant, Corporate Trainer, Speaker, Corporate to Community Liaison, and Innovator. She is an adept communicator, able to absorb, synthesize, and contextualise information quickly with the aim of gaining collaboration, understanding, and support while launching new projects, or with forming partnerships. Faten holds a Master’s degree in International Management from the University of Phoenix, and a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Science, major in Animal Production and Protection.

 

Additional Online Resources

Desalination of Ground Water: Earth Science Perspectives
This site, sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey, provides an overview of the need for desalinated water in the world.

APEC: A Complete Resource Guide on Osmosis
This site, provided by APEC, presents a complete resource guide on osmosis.

Osmosis simulation
This site, sponsored by Paul Lewis Phylogenetics, provides a simulation demonstrating osmosis.

Howstuffworks?: How does desalination work?
This site, sponsored by Howstuffworks?, presents a comprehensive overview of de-salination as well as an excellent video on how water from oil wells can be cleaned via thermal desalination.

YouTube: Osmosis
This YouTube video has a narrated explanation clearly explaining and demonstrating osmosis.