Egg Drop Project Physics

The physics concepts that were illustrated in our egg drop project were momentum and energy. In the project, we saw how momentum increases as a normal egg without anything to slow it down would crack. That was because the longer that the egg fell, the more momentum the egg gains. We also saw that by adding resistance during the fall, such as a plastic bag “parachute”, would slow down the egg enough so that it would not crack when it reached impact with the ground. The other concept that was discussed was energy. We saw that before the egg is dropped, it has a potential energy. The potential energy is the amount of energy that can turn into physical kinetic energy, which can be expended when the egg falls to the ground. The energy can leave
the objects from the impact of the fall (deformation of the object), sound waves, the impact it has on the floor, or in the surroundings of the egg. In order for a project to be successful, the project would have to have parts that would help slow the energy that would surely break the egg without a protective barrier. If I were to do this project again, I would probably add more sponges tot the inside sides of the construction paper basket and add little pen springs on the bottom of the basket. I would add more side sponges because when we did the actual dropping of the egg, I noticed that the whole basket fell to its side when it reached the ground. By adding more sponge, this would add more cushion to absorb the kinetic energy. I would add the little pen springs on the bottom of the basket so that the whole basket’s impact could be absorbed, not only the egg being protected, but also the sponges. By adding these modifications, the egg may be able to withstand an even higher fall than a two story drop because of the extra cushions that would be able to absorb the energy.