Egg Drop
Running head: Egg Drop Lab Report
Egg Drop Lab Report
Jon Johnson
Rochester Area High School
Egg Drop Lab Report
Introduction The objective of this project was to create a structure that will protect a raw egg and prevent it from breaking when being dropped from a minimum height of two meters. A decent hypothesis or prediction one could develop before any experimental trials would be as follows. The structure that provides the longest duration of impact between the falling egg the ground will provide the desired results of an undamaged egg. The duration of time in which the ground applies a force to the egg carrying structure is referred to as impulse. The longer the span of impact time, the more mild the force acting upon the egg.
Methods/Materials/Background
For this challenge the students were limited to fifty drinking straws, two post-it notes, one raw egg, and a meter of tape. In the previously stated hypothesis, impulse was the deciding factor in what will prevent the egg from breaking. The force normally applied to the egg by the ground when being dropped from the introductory height of two meters would be far too great causing the egg to break. Therefore, lab participants needed to find a way to either elongate the duration of the impact, or find a way to slow down the egg’s normal final velocity when it strikes the ground. Velocity is described as, “the displacement divided by the time interval during which the displacement occurred” (Serway & Faughn, 2002, p. 43). Prior to the trials at the set heights, there seemed to be multiple structural designs that would suffice as an egg protecting or slowing agent. However, with a little bit of thought regarding the materials provided, one could deduce that a structure that would slow the time of impact between the egg/structure and the ground would be the most successful from the three different drop heights of two, three, and five meters. One design that would generate success would
Egg Drop Lab Report
Jon Johnson
Rochester Area High School
Egg Drop Lab Report
Introduction The objective of this project was to create a structure that will protect a raw egg and prevent it from breaking when being dropped from a minimum height of two meters. A decent hypothesis or prediction one could develop before any experimental trials would be as follows. The structure that provides the longest duration of impact between the falling egg the ground will provide the desired results of an undamaged egg. The duration of time in which the ground applies a force to the egg carrying structure is referred to as impulse. The longer the span of impact time, the more mild the force acting upon the egg.
Methods/Materials/Background
For this challenge the students were limited to fifty drinking straws, two post-it notes, one raw egg, and a meter of tape. In the previously stated hypothesis, impulse was the deciding factor in what will prevent the egg from breaking. The force normally applied to the egg by the ground when being dropped from the introductory height of two meters would be far too great causing the egg to break. Therefore, lab participants needed to find a way to either elongate the duration of the impact, or find a way to slow down the egg’s normal final velocity when it strikes the ground. Velocity is described as, “the displacement divided by the time interval during which the displacement occurred” (Serway & Faughn, 2002, p. 43). Prior to the trials at the set heights, there seemed to be multiple structural designs that would suffice as an egg protecting or slowing agent. However, with a little bit of thought regarding the materials provided, one could deduce that a structure that would slow the time of impact between the egg/structure and the ground would be the most successful from the three different drop heights of two, three, and five meters. One design that would generate success would
Cited: United States Standards, grades, and weight classes for shelled eggs. (2000, July 20). Retrieved 2 10, 2011, from http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3004376 Rimy, M. a. (2010, September 24). Retrieved 2 10, 2011, from http://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=jse.2010.257.264 Serway, R. A., & Faughn, J. S. (2002). Holt Physics. Austin, Texas: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.