Egg drop with two straws and 3 sheets of paper

[hey101]

OK well as the title says I have to do an egg drop using only a foot of tape, 3 sheets of computer paper, and 2 straws (they have the bendable end). So is there any suggestion of what will work best? The egg will be dropped from 10cm to begin with, and then the drop height will increase until it breaks. 30ft is the maximum we can go. Id like to reach that goal but I am not even sure what will even work.

 

[Ranger Mike]

ifin you are asking for advice I ask you use on constant unit..WTF is 10 CM...in inches as you also have 30 feet spec called out..what type tape..masking tape , duct tape, foil tape?
what diameter straw? what's wall thickness of the straw..
whats the dimensions of the paper, thickness?? recycled crap or virgin paper..as it will make a difference..what temperature will the drop be,,finally what type egg? what color shell? can you use hard boiled egg..is there a minimum weight?
what is the temperature of the egg?
what mechanism must be used to drop the egg?
Being one who uses a very Liberal ( only time this adjective applies to me) interpertation of the rules to WIN, need the answers and I bet this forum can come in NUMBER ONE...

 

[hey101]

10cm is 10 centimeters. its a metric unit. to keep a constant unit, then i will stay in meters. the first drop will be .10m the highest we can go will be 9.1m.
The tape is masking tape and it is 1 inch wide. which would be 0.0254m wide.
the paper is 8.5 x 11 in which would be 0.2159 x 0.2794m. It is regular computer printing paper and I do not have an accurate scale with me to weigh it. And I do not know the thickness nor have anything to measure that with. I live in the United states in georgia in case that helps any.

the egg is a white, grade a egg or that's what it says on the carton. He supplies us the eggs and they will not be hardboiled.
The eggs will be room temperature but i assume they will become colder outside where we will be doping them. i think it will be 50 degrees Fahrenheit outside and 70 inside.
We will just be holding the object that we are dropping and then letting it go to fall straight down.

 

[Ranger Mike]

is there any limitation on the configuration of the masking tape other than it initially must be the 12" x 1" dimension..you are free to cut it in as many sizes and shapes as you wish..right?
will the instructor supply the tape or can you use any " masking tape"?
Will he supply the paper and straws?
from a strict competition point a view I question the randomness of the egg since this is a variable and it does not see too consistent to use this evaluation..weight would differ as would shell hardness, consistency..etc

we still have room to wiggle though..let me know what the " fair guy" is supplying

 

[Ranger Mike]

I got tow things to say.
1. post this in the mechanical engineering forum on this site
these guys are the ultimate in getting things designed and built right!

2.
Eggs are sorted by size before packing. There are small, medium, large, extra large and jumbo. Some places you can buy pullet eggs which are smaller than small.
Minimum weights per dozen are : Jumbo (30 oz.), Extra Large (27 oz.), Large (24 oz.), Medium (21 oz.), small (18 oz.), and Pee Wee (or pullet) (15 oz.)
So, large eggs are 2 oz each, and medium are 1.75 oz.

The above is true for the weight of the egg AND the shell, but if you want to know the weight of an egg out of the shell (large, since their most common) it weights about 1.7 oz.

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_ounces_does_an_egg_weigh#ixzz1CLItdtL5

 

[torquil]

OK well as the title says I have to do an egg drop using only a foot of tape, 3 sheets of computer paper, and 2 straws (they have the bendable end). So is there any suggestion of what will work best? The egg will be dropped from 10cm to begin with, and then the drop height will increase until it breaks. 30ft is the maximum we can go. Id like to reach that goal but I am not even sure what will even work.

Make a lot of thin strands of paper. Turn them into a long "rope". Then use this to lower the egg down from 9m to the ground.

I don't know if this is feasible, but perhaps if could work? Or perhaps it is against the rules?

 

[Oldfart]

I'd use one sheet to make a parachute, stiffened by the staws. Tape the egg to the straws, crumple up the other two sheets to make an energy-absorbing cushion which is taped to the bottom of the egg.

 

[Curl]

Isn't the point of the exercise to come up with something on your own rather than cheat and copy what others tell you?

 

[Ranger Mike]

I think the point of the exercise is to come up with a way to drop an egg without breaking it. all avenues should be open...think out side the box...there is a big old world out there and its yours for the taking, and logging,whaling, strip mining or what ever to like..as long as you take mam up to it!

 

[yuiop]

What defines the drop height of the egg? Is it the distance from the floor to the lowest part of the egg or to the lowest part of the "device" which consists of the egg and all attachments? I imagine any good egg drop device will have a good "crumple zone" below the egg to cushion the impact on the egg, but obviously the definition of drop height will affect how much crumple zone you can have. For example if the drop height is floor to egg, a 10 cm crumple zone below the egg means the egg will not fall any distance at all in the first drop (assuming stability). Obviously your teacher will have to define drop height carefully to avoid "cheats" such as the one mentioned by torquil. The parachute arrangement has already been mentioned. A slight variation is to make a helicopter arrangement using the two straws and some paper for the helicopter blades. This might be a more interesting solution (similar to how some seeds such as those of the sycamore increase their dispersion distance) but it is debatable whether it more effective than a parachute plus a crumple zone made out of straws and crumpled paper.

 

[Curl]

I think the point of the exercise is to come up with a way to drop an egg without breaking it. all avenues should be open...think out side the box...there is a big old world out there and its yours for the taking, and logging,whaling, strip mining or what ever to like..as long as you take mam up to it!

In that case, don't do anything since it is a dumb waste of time. Nobody cares about the egg, it's not a real task it is an exercise.

The point was to get the kid to think and try to come up with something on his own (I know thinking is hard for a lot of people). That's the whole purpose of the exercise, so if you cheat, then there is no point in doing the exercise at all.

 

[Ranger Mike]

No doing the task is one option. and possibly failing the class will result. It may be dumb, or considered a waste of time by some people and this is reality. So if the OP wants to succeed he will in fact have to complete the task. ( criterion testing require a specific task, test conditions and standards to be stated in thorough detail). Until these three are stated and analyzed, it is impossible to cheat. These three things are in various stages of discussion and negative comments are not helpful at this juncture.

 

[Camron201]

I had a similar project, but I had to use scotch tape. I made an open cylinder with the first two peices of paper. I used the straws in a x pattern to keep the papers cylinder shape. I cut the last piece of paper into strips and made braided rope out of it. I then secured the egg in the center of the cylinder with the rope and tape from all four sides (vertically and horizontally). I used what paper I had left to make fins on the cylinder to ensure it landed bottom down. The egg survived a single drop of 20 feet. I hope this gives you some ideas.