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Egg Density
Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 1:02 pm
by scienceblahs
I am helping my fourth grade daughter do a project on egg density. My problem is that I don't feel like the results are conclusive on which is more dense...the raw egg or the hard boiled egg. Maybe she didn't write down the results properly...but it appears that the egg weighs about the same whether its raw or hard boiled.
Can anyone help me with this. Going nuts over eggs in NC.
Re: Egg Density
Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 1:29 pm
by deleted-2574
Hi scienceblahs,
I can understand your frustration! Boiling an egg does not change its mass. So the raw egg and the boiled egg weigh the same.
Were you expecting something different?
Re: Egg Density
Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 1:44 pm
by scienceblahs
davidkallman wrote:Hi scienceblahs,
I can understand your frustration! Boiling an egg does not change its mass. So the raw egg and the boiled egg weigh the same.
Were you expecting something different?
SO, we've done a project that has no conclusive results...so there is no difference in the density between a raw egg and a hard boiled egg in tap water.
Re: Egg Density
Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 2:46 pm
by deleted-2574
Hi scienceblahs,
scienceblahs wrote:
SO, we've done a project that has no conclusive results...so there is no difference in the density between a raw egg and a hard boiled egg in tap water.
Actually if the measurements show that a hard boiled egg and a raw weigh the same, we do have conclusive results -->
Boiling does NOT affect density.
Re: Egg Density
Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 2:59 pm
by scienceblahs
davidkallman wrote:Hi scienceblahs,
scienceblahs wrote:
SO, we've done a project that has no conclusive results...so there is no difference in the density between a raw egg and a hard boiled egg in tap water.
Actually if the measurements show that a hard boiled egg and a raw weigh the same, we do have conclusive results -->
Boiling does NOT affect density.
Thanks for your optimism. I guess there is not much to graph on this one. Have a great day. Feeling a little better about the results...and even better that the project is almost over. You learn something new everyday. So, I guess the volume shouldn't change either????
Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 3:24 pm
by deleted-2131
No, the volume will not have changed either. Take a look at your eggs: they are the same size after they are boiled as they were before they were boiled.
Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 6:31 am
by scienceblahs
Terik Daly wrote:No, the volume will not have changed either. Take a look at your eggs: they are the same size after they are boiled as they were before they were boiled.
Many thanks!
Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:35 am
by deleted-71447
Scienceblahs,
Although you are correct to say that "the egg weighs about the same whether its raw or hard boiled", I suspect that this project was suggested (or assigned) by someone who was aware that a boiling an egg may result in a very subtle change in density. The change in density may be too small to be quantified with household scales and typical volume estimates. However, there are other simple methods that are more sensitive at showing differences in density.
If you are interested to learn more, here are some suggestions for additional experiments and a hint about why you might actually see a difference in density.
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/c ... m03386.htm