Designing a Winning Egg Drop Project: Tips and Tricks for Success

Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around designing a device for an egg drop project, where the goal is to prevent an egg from breaking when dropped from a certain height. Participants share various creative ideas and approaches while adhering to specific constraints regarding materials and dimensions.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests using a pillow as a cushioning device for the egg.
  • Another recalls a past experience where they built a cube from popsicle sticks, suspending the egg in the center with rubber bands, which resulted in the egg surviving the drop.
  • A different idea involves creating a chute from a coat hanger and panty hose, designed to slow the egg's descent with a soft cushion at the bottom.
  • One participant mentions a successful design using two bagels stacked to hold the egg, noting that the exposed parts of the egg may need protection.
  • Another suggests using three bagels for better coverage and proposes duct tape for assembly, while questioning the effectiveness of using only two bagels.
  • A participant shares a physics class experiment where a design using light foam and a hatch mechanism was successful in protecting the egg.
  • One participant describes a method involving a cup suspended by straws and a partially deflated balloon acting as an airbag, which worked well from a height of 30 feet.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants present a variety of ideas and approaches without a clear consensus on the best method. Multiple competing views remain regarding the most effective design for the egg drop project.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty about the height of the drop and the specific requirements for materials, leading to a range of proposed solutions that may or may not meet the project constraints.

youphfan
I have a younger cousin who needs suggestions for an egg drop project. He will be dropping an egg from a certain distance (not sure how high, but not too high), and he has to build a device that will prevent it from breaking.

The requirements are that there are no parachutes, it cannot be more than 35 inches in any direction, it cannot consist primarily of commercial packing, duct tape etc. (although those materials may be used, just only as a small part of the design), and he has to be able to insert/remove the egg without dissasembling the entire device.

Can anyone help me (him) out? Thanks in advance.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
how about a pillow?
 
In junior high my school did the egg drop. our teachers got to drop eggs out of a helecopter. If i remember correctly, I did the following:

I made a cube out of popsickle sticks. I suspended the egg, wraped in those plastic bubbles, in the middle of the cube with rubber bands going to the 4 corners.

The egg survived.

Pan
 
I'd make some kind of "chute" for it, maybe out of some coat hanger and panty hose, or something else elastic. You could have it with a wide mouth at the top and then it slowly tapers down as it slows the egg. The bottom you could cushion with something soft like cotton or a sock at the bottom of the chute. Just an idea :smile:
 
I knew someone that put an egg inside the hole made by 2 bagels stacked on top of each other. their egg survived. You may want to do something about the exposed parts of the egg, but this person didn't, and it was okay.
 
Originally posted by photon
I knew someone that put an egg inside the hole made by 2 bagels stacked on top of each other. their egg survived. You may want to do something about the exposed parts of the egg, but this person didn't, and it was okay.
Haha, that might just work! Any suggestions as to what I can do about the exposed areas?


h
 
You could use three bagels to cover the entire egg, then use duct tape to hold them all together. But there has got to be some reason why the guy was confident with only 2.
 
*shrug* I can try both ways then - quite a uniquely simple idea, I'll see if it works. :smile:



h
 
We just did a test for our projects in my physics class.
The most successful design was to pieces of light foam about 4 inches thick held together by duct tape and fishing line. A small area had been cut out in the middle for the egg to rest in.
My class was also required to have one hatch that would be opened to retrieve the egg, this person made the foam hinge with the tape and latch with the fishing line.
 
  • #10
I placed the egg in a cup suspended by a group of straws so that it couldn't move. Then, I taped a partially deflated balloon to the bottom of the cup so that it would act as an airbag and absorb all of the impact. Worked perfectly from a height of 30 feet. It was the same concept that the Mars landing rovers used.

edit- wow just realized this was a really old post. Oh well.
 

Similar threads

High School Mastering the Egg Drop Challenge: Tips and Tricks for 3 Egg Success
  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
8K
High School Egg Drop Project: Honors Physics
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
8K
High School The Great Egg Drop Contest: Design a Protection Device
  • · Replies 16 ·
Replies
16
Views
32K
High School Egg Drop project tips
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
5K
How can I improve my egg drop design using limited materials?
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
What are some effective designs for an egg drop project using limited materials?
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
3K
Egg Drop Project: Creative Designs with Limited Materials
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
Egg Drop Project and Kinetic Energy
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
3K
Design a Winning Egg Capsule Challenge
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
3K
Design a $40 Egg-Protecting Device for the Egg Drop Challenge
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
12K