Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My teacher assigned us an egg drop project. He will provide a raw egg and a small lunchroom-size milk carton. Our job is to bring in materials to put in the milk carton to pad the egg, preventing it from cracking when it is dropped from various heights.

Rules:
All materials must fit INSIDE the milk carton.
NO PARACHUTES.

What do I put inside my milk carton? This project will be graded based on how long my egg lasts.

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Best, Keith

Hi Sara,

This is a great project! Instead of giving you things to put in your milk carton, I think it would be more useful to help you understand what you can put to increase the lifetime of your egg. When an egg is dropped from an elevation, what are the forces it experiences in the air? (As a hint, what is acting against gravity)

There is one particular law of motion which will help you understand what to put in your milk carton and it's Newton's First Law. If your egg is at rest and then suddenly dropped, which direction does the egg want to move in the milk carton? When you are in a car and it turns left, which direction will your body move in as a response?

Lastly, when the milk carton impacts the ground, think about what I mentioned earlier about the direction the egg will want to move in. The force of impact with the ground will want to break the egg so some form of padding above and below will help. Why does padding help? (Hint: think about airbags)

These are just some thoughts to get you started, hope that it helps!!

Vin