Construct a Balsa Wood Device to Protect an Egg from Drops

[BrianTW]

Homework Statement

Objective: To produce a balsa wood device that will hold and protect an egg from breaking when released from various heights.

RULES
1. The device must be constructed using ONLY balsa wood (1/8 x 1/8 in)
2. Individual pieces of balsa wood may be laminated together in any fashion to produce cross sectional areas larger than 1/8 x 1/8 in
3. No side of the device can be longer than one foot.
4. The egg must be able to be removed from the device.
5. An egg is considered broken if it has a visible crack or more significant damage.
6. A grade A large chicken egg must be used.

We're given 15 strips of balsa wood, 1/8 x 1/8 in and 1 meter long.
The egg will be dropped from .5 m, 1m, 1.5m, and 2m.

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution

My idea was to create a small rectangular mass of wood. It would be something like 3x3 or 4x4 and 7 inches long. When stood upright, the wood would have a hole just big enough for the egg to fit in in the center of the 3x3 side. The hole would extend 4 inches downward, leaving 3 inches of solid wood between the bottom of the egg and the bottom of the device.
I'm not sure if this will work though. I'm afraid that the momentum from the impact will break the bottom of the egg.
We're only given one set of wood, so I can't build this and test it. Whatever we build on the first try is our final project. Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[TheBeesKnees]

I used to do egg drops for science olympiad with popsicle sticks, but I found that a cone structure usually worked better than the rectangular ones.