Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

This is a project assigned by my science teacher:
Egg Drop:

Materials:
- 25 popsicles sticks (can be broken in half to get 50)
- Elmers Glue
-string
-garbage bag (used as the parachute)

Objective:
Build a container with said materials that is meant for an egg drop.

We are going to drop the container with the egg inside on top of our school roof.

Hi,

That sounds like a great experiment! It sounds like the object is to build the egg a box, attached to the parachute, so it will hopefully survive the egg drop. What do you need help with? Can you use any additional supplies, or only those on the list?

Tonya

I can only use the materials i have. I just need help on what shape to make it.
Maybe some internet sites where it talks about gravity? I don't know. Please help me.

I've moved this topic out of Life Sciences and into Physics where Experts in this area will see your project and questions and be able to offer suggestions.

Good luck!

Amy
Science Buddies

Hi,

Wow, this sounds like a really fun experiment.

Before you get started, here is a resource I found for you:

http://www.youngdoctors.org/files/2006/ ... 202006.ppt

It's a powerpoint presentation of a group that tried to do something similar, although they had different materials. I think you should look at their background and understand why their egg survived the fall. While the materials are different, many concepts are the same.

Some things to consider in making your box are strength and surface area. The more surface area on the bottom, the more drag and thus the slower it will be upon impact. You also want to make your box strong enough so that it doesn't break when it hits the bottom. In other words you want the bottom of your box to be spread out.

How much string are you allowed to use? One thing you could do is to keep your egg suspended in the air inside of your box by using the string. Imagine a fly in a train. If the train hits something, the fly, as long as it stays in the air, will not be harmed. I think that if you keep the egg suspended, when the box hits the floor, the egg will stay suspended in the air.

Hope this helps,

Manjinder

If you aren't limited in the amount of string and glue and what you can use it for, there are some interesting possibilities that might come from asking the question, what causes an egg shell to break.

For example, If plastic packing tape was an unlimited material, you could make a 12 foot diameter honey cone ball that would survive a mars landing like the inflatable mars rover landing balls which would likely be outside the things that the challenge planners thought they were allowing if they listed plastic packing tape as a material.

The interesting successful solutions to these kinds of challenges will come from knowing EXACTLY what the rules allow and don't allow. The rules might allow a significantly different solution than what the people setting up the challenge and rules thought they were allowing.

Do your challenge rules require that
1) the garbage bag ONLY be used for a parachute?
2) the string ONLY be used for parachute lines?
BEWARE: You have to ask these questions EARLY and simply asking them will LIKELY result in adjustments to the RULES.

If not, brainstorm what other things can be made from the garbage bag and string.

Also think about what other materials that aren't explicitly listed on what you can use that have to be allowed. HINT: You aren't conducting this experiment in a space vacuum so the environment MUST allow atmospheric air.

How to make parachutes can be found through a simple google search. For example: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Toy-Parachute

However, there is no reason not to be able to take it a couple steps further. Would it be better to have one large parachute, or multiple smaller ones?