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You Crack Me Up!

Remember that gravity pulls on all objects equally. Earth is constantly pulling all objects, regardless of mass, at the rate of 9.8 m/s2 (meters per second squared.) This information can be useful in allowing us to calculate how fast, how high and the force of impact subjected to the egg capsule. You may want to spend a couple of days designing and determining possible packaging materials for your egg capsule. The capsule is to be made at home and brought to school on the day of the launch.

Your goal will be to package a raw egg into a container of no more than 30 cm x 30 cm in size. The egg-filled container will be launched into the air and return to Earth. The egg is NOT to be harmed in the process. No parachutes are allowed!

Materials:

  • Empty two-liter bottle
  • Container (max size 30 cm x 30 cm to put egg in)
  • Packaging material
  • Duct tape
  • Raw egg
  • Watch, timer, or stop watch (needs to at least measure seconds)
  • Water rocket launcher/compressor

Procedure:

  1. Package the raw egg into the container of choice.
    • Use packaging material to help protect the egg.
  2. Record the mass of the packaged egg.
  3. Toss the egg capsule gently into the air.
  4. Open the capsule and see if the egg survived without being damaged or cracked.
  5. Use the duct tape to attach the egg capsule to the large end of the empty two-liter bottle.
  6. Fill the bottle with water (until it is about 1/2 full).
  7. Record the mass of the rocket in grams.
  8. Record the mass of your egg capsule and the bottle with water.
  9. Place the bottle on the launcher (with adult permission).
  10. Record the nunber of seconds the bottle is in the air between launch and impact.
  11. Recover the egg capsule and see if the egg survived without being damaged or cracked!
Safety concerns: Be sure to follow all eye safety rules that are specified by your teacher in all general laboratory experiences. As with all science lab activities, the most important safety rule is to follow all teacher directions. Make sure that your egg is broken and placed into a suitable waste container as approved by an adult!

Analysis:

  1. Was there a difference in how the egg capsule survived the hand launch compared to the rocket launch?
  2. Did the egg impact with more force when launched by hand or with the rocket launcher?
  3. How many seconds was the egg capsule in the air when launched with the bottle?

Review science lab safety rules here.

Get the plug-ins: Get Adobe Acrobat Reader , and Get Quicktime Player (The QuickTime plug-in is needed to play sounds and movies correctly.)

Want to share photos of you or your friends doing this activity? Send it in an e-mail with the following information: the title of the activity, the URL (Internet address), and your name. Remember that no pictures can be used which show any student faces or has a student name on it.

Updated August 13, 2005 by: Glen Westbroek

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