Average Mass Of Egg Experiment

Prior to designing a contraption to hold the grade A egg, a series of tests were conducted in order to accurately design a contraption that would uphold under the force of the fall without the egg cracking or popping out. The first test was to determine the average mass and dimensions of the eggs. The materials needed to conduct this section of the lab include 60 eggs, a scale, a string, and a caliper. In order to obtain the mass, an egg was placed on a scale and the mass was recorded; this was repeated for the other 59 eggs. After they were all weighed the average mass was recorded by adding up all 60 masses and dividing by 60, this measurement was then recorded. Secondly, the string was wrapped around the minor and major circumferences
of each egg and recorded; subsequently to measuring the circumferences, they were averaged and recorded as well. Next a caliper was used to find the major and minor diameters for each egg. The measurements were recorded and averaged as well. The second test that was conducted was to find the force of collision with the ground as well as the momentum of the egg.
Before running the test, all of the materials had to be gathered: pvc pipe, ring stand, labquest, photogate, eggs, force probe, and plates. The testing apparatus was set up next by placing one photogate on the ground attached to a ring stand and connected to a labquest. Vertically above the photogate, a 2 meter PVC pipe was held in line with the photogate. A paper plate was placed under the PVC pipe and directly above a force probe, which itself was connected to a labquest. The collection button was pressed and then an egg was dropped through the pipe, one at a time. After the eggs broke, the final velocity and force were recorded. This process was repeated for 29 more eggs. Subsequently to testing, the momentum was calculated by using the equation
p=mv. Next, in order to calculate the acceleration 30 eggs, a photogate, a labquest, a meter stick, PVC pipe, a container, and a ring stand were needed. An apparatus was set up with the 2 meter PVC pipe placed vertically above the photogate. The data collection mode was pressed, and after a few seconds passed one egg was dropped. The acceleration was then recorded for all 30 eggs; the average acceleration found to be 9.93m/s2. Lastly, the force it took to break an egg on its side and at the point was found. In order to do so, materials were gathered: 30 eggs, a force probe, some plastic bags, a plate, and a labquest. A lab quest was hooked up to a force probe, which was placed in a plastic bag to protect from raw eggs. An egg was then held in place such that its side came in contact with the table/plate. The force probe was then pressed into the side of the egg until the shell cracked completely. The force measured by the force probe was then recorded in a lab notebook. This process was repeated 14 additional times with the eggs on their sides and then 15 times with the eggs on their point. After all of the data is collected, the average force was calculated for the side and point of the egg. In the process for designing the carrier, several prototypes were created. The requirements were that it was made from 20 straws, 3 rubber bands, 10cm of tape, 10 cm of string and 2 pieces of computer paper. Disclaimer: a trade was made with classmate, Tyler Reeder, to exchange 1 rubber band for 5 straws. For prototype #1, the base was made of 10 triangles wrapped in paper and stacked above each other. Prototype #2 had the same requirements, however, a different design was used. A basket was created inside of the carrier in order to hold the egg in place. The final product, also known as prototype #3, was created out of triangles with straws poking out on various ends to help cushion the fall. There was a basket for the egg implemented into this design as well. Each prototype was tested onto grass and onto concrete and the time was recorded for prototype #3 in order for subsequent calculations to be made.

Data/Analysis:
The average mass, major circumference, minor circumference, major diameter, and minor diameter were found to be 58.91242g, 15.99166cm, 14.066cm, 5.6588cm, and 4.3738cm respectively and can be seen in Table 1. The final velocity and the average force in which the eggs were hitting the force sensor were 6.57125m/s and 8.4419 N respectively. This data, which may be found in table 2, made it possible to calculate the average momentum of an egg to be 0.387kg・M/s. Simultaneously as the average momentum and final velocity were being calculated by the photogate and labQuest, the average v1, v2, and acceleration of standard eggs were found to be 4.802m/s 6.548m/s and 9.93m/s2 respectively as can be proven in Table 3. The average force required to break an egg on its side was 39.17 N and on its point was 42.402 N, as seen in Table 4.
Subsequently to these calculations the prototypes were tested. Prototype #1 made the fall 2 meters onto grass; however, the egg popped out. For prototype #2 the design did not cushion the egg enough and the egg broke after a 2 meter fall onto concrete. Lastly, results from testing prototype #3 show that it made the fall 1 meter onto concrete, broke at 2 meters onto concrete, and then made it 2 meters onto concrete for trials 1, 2, and 3 respectively. The acceleration of the carrier from prototype #3 had an acceleration of 11.91m/s2 for trial 1, and 12.13m/s2 for trial 2; they averaged out to be 12.02m/s2. The expected air resistance was to be 2.46 N and the potential and kinetic energy were calculated to be 1.73 J and 1.89 J respectively. In the final test the carrier did not land flat and the egg broke over on contact at the 2 meter mark.

Claims & Discussion: Majority of the findings from this lab were done so by a computer based system and therefore were more accurate. The only calculations done by hand were the acceleration of the carrier, air resistance, potential energy, and kinetic energy; however, these calculations were based from the standard data points collected in the testing prior to making a design. In the final test period for the carrier, the carrier fell slightly off balance and consequently the egg fell out and cracked on impact. Perhaps if the carrier were able to stay upright, the egg would have remained unbroken. This is theorized because in the design trials for the final product, it had a 50% success rate. With that in mind it could be analyzed that the angle at which the carrier comes in contact with the ground affects the well-being of the egg. Calculations made it possible to see the potential energy of the carrier to be 1.73J and the kinetic energy to be 1.89 J; theoretically, this is impossible.
At the height of the 2 meters, the carrier has no kinetic energy and once it is dropped, potential energy is converted into kinetic energy.1 That does nothing to help explain why the kinetic energy was higher, it should technically not exceed the potential energy given. A limitation to this could be a calculation error that ultimately skewed the rest of the data. Other limitations to this experiment could be that each time the carrier is tested the tape, string, or ways to hold the contraption together, lost its adhesive or grip. Items become unstuck when the surfaces are pulled apart and air intervenes between the adhesive and the surface, breaking the bonds between the molecules.2 Since the carrier was tested outside of class several times prior to the final test, this could contribute to why the product failed. Prototype #3 should have been recreated with fresh tape for the final. Another contributing factor to slightly off data would be that not all 30 eggs were able to get a reading on the starting tests. Simply, the data would have become more accurate as more trials were conducted. There were technically difficulties getting both labquests on the right setting and working at the same
time. Based on the calculations it was apparent that prototype #3, was not the best design for the requirements given. The acceleration of the carrier with the egg in it was averaged to be 12.02m/s2 and the and the mass was 29.31g. The only force left to counter these values was air resistance, and the ability of the contraption to absorb the force.3 The air resistance was calculated to be 2.46N but this value was not enough on its own to slow the carrier’s motion down enough to make a difference on the egg. The design that was the most efficient was created by Regan Mazour. It had ten straws lined up side to side and then ten more laying across those and so on. This design helped to create a larger air resistance since it had a larger mass and area coming in contact with the air. To make the design in prototype #3 more successful in the future, a larger base could be made and different materials could be chosen in order to get maximum shock absorption. In conclusion, the design allowed the egg to break because the forces going towards the center of the earth were far greater than the ones contradicting it or absorbing the contact.