Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Object is to construct an egg 'protector' that will be dropped from 10 ft. high onto pavement w/out breaking the egg.
Materials list:
20 drinking staws (can be cut if needed)
10 ft. of string (cannot be plied into two pieces and tied together to make the string longer)
and of coarse an egg

How do we begin construction? If only tape were allowed,lol.

Hi, I think the best way to get started will be to sit down and design the structure that you think would work best to protect the egg. Make sure to draw the structure so that you don't forget it! You could build a few of these prototypes and test them out at home before the "big drop" if you would like, and this would greatly improve your chances of succeeding. Also, you could search around on the internet for a bit to help you get a place to start when designing your contraption if you can't seem to think of a place to start.
Hope this helps!!

I would start by listing the mechanisms that cause eggs to break. Is it impacts, acceleration, hydraulic pressure, sudden stop, localized pressure, distributed pressure, etc.?

Then, what are you going to do about it?

How are you going to mitigate the problem?

My first gut reaction is to use the string to weave a hammock and then suspend it inside of a frame made of straws.

Robert Reavis

Think about some of the car commercials where they show how crumple zones work. Plastic straws are an excellent material to construct crumple zones. Think about how deflections and directional changes can reduce impact shock forces by spreading them out in time. My engineering instincts on this challenge with the materials you have is to construct some type of open ball like frame structure surrounding the egg suspended in the middle.