Designing a Self-Supporting Egg Catcher: A Scientific Approach

[Ering]

Hello, I'm looking for any ideas that you geniuses may have!
We have to design a device that will catch a (hardboiled) egg from 7 meters high.
It can be made from any material/objects but must be under 5 cm tall (the sides can be as wide as wanted) and must be self-supporting.
The device will be placed on hard wood.

I've been looking up some ideas online, and figured I'd ask on here as well.

Thanks for any ideas!

 

[berkeman]

Hello, I'm looking for any ideas that you geniuses may have!
We have to design a device that will catch a (hardboiled) egg from 7 meters high.
It can be made from any material/objects but must be under 5 cm tall (the sides can be as wide as wanted) and must be self-supporting.
The device will be placed on hard wood.

I've been looking up some ideas online, and figured I'd ask on here as well.

Thanks for any ideas!

What have you found so far? What are the relevant equations and concepts involved in this type of project?

 

[molsen]

If it was me I would probably weigh an egg, and figure how fast it is going after falling 7 meters. It should offer some clues as to the momentum the device is required to absorb. Ignoring air resistance will give a higher estimate, if that proves unrealistic you can probably get pretty close by assuming the egg is a sphere. In this I am assuming the egg is supposed to survive the ordeal.