Egg Crash

Our Demonstration

Our Method

Physics Concepts

Egg Crashing Test

More Concepts:

Well....

We thought about different materials that would supply enough cushion and resemble the same protection that an airbag would give to a passenger.

We looked at different safety materials such as cotton balls, flotation devices, and even sponges that would successfully disperse the amount of force given by the contact with the wall around the egg, and not directly on the egg causing it to crack.

We generally just looked at any material with some sort of padding to protect the egg from the force of the wall.

Our demonstration includes a small box, dry foam, cotton balls, quilt fabric, sponges, and tape.

Inside of the box, the sides are plastered with dry foam to prevent the movement of the egg. Then, we put a layer of sponges around the box to give the egg a more snug fit and prevent movement. After that, we put cotton balls on any space left open to prevent any movement from the egg and to absorb as much of the force as possible.

On the inside of the lid, we layered it with sponge to also keep the egg in place and to prevent as much force from getting to the egg.

On the outside of the box, we taped sponges around every side to absorb the initial impact from the wall.

When the box hits the wall, the sponges absorb the initial impact, which is most of the impact, and then inside of the box the dry foam and the sponges keep the egg in place and absorb any force that the outside doesn't. The cotton balls then absorb any impact that the sponges did not, and also are used to give the egg cushion and keep it as still as possible.

The box has potential energy when it is held at its peak and about to be dropped. When the box is released the potential energy is then converted into kinetic energy due to gravity. The box is accelerating into the wall. Newton's First Law is taking place because an object in motion remains in motion unless stopped by an outside force which is the wall.

If the box didn't have sponges, dry foam, and cotton balls to absorb the impact from the wall, the egg would crack because all of the energy is aimed toward that one object.

The greater the height of the box, the greater the speed of the box which can create more energy that can be harmful during the crash if you don't have the proper safety equipment that can absorb the energy. At the lower heights, the egg is still in danger of cracking if it is not protected, but not as much in danger as if it were at the highest height.

If the egg has a short stopping distance (hard surface) it results in a large force.

If the egg has a larger stopping distance (soft- surface) which the sponges supply, it results in a smaller force which doesn't break the egg.

One of the major factors we tried to incorporate was trying to spread out the force around the egg so that the pressure from the impact would not hit one spot of the egg directly and crack it.

Also involved, in the egg crash is Newton's Second Law which is Force=Mass x Acceleration. This law tells you that unbalanced outside forces cause all accelerations. This concept is involved with the crashing of the egg because the faster our design moves on the swing and how heavy it is determines the amount of force distributed around the egg. The unbalanced force working on the egg is gravity, and the force stopping it is the wall. From Newton's Second Law comes momentum. Momentum= mass x velocity. The effects of a collision depends upon the mass of the design involved in the collision and the velocity of the design (different angles). The greater the angle that the design travels on, the more momentum there will be. When the moving swing with the egg design crashes into the stationary wall, the egg design gained momentum as it swings and then loses some of it which is then transferred into the wall on contact.

The Law of Conservation of Momentum states that the total momentum before a collision is equal to the total momentum after the collision if no external force acts on the system. During the eggs fall from different heights, it gains momentum as it falls. This momentum is then transferred to the wall when the egg design makes contact. The momentum from the beginning of the fall to the end was not changed and remained equal. Although each object changed in momentum, the total momentum stayed the same. Impulse is a decrease in force by an increase in time. This relates to momentum because impulse is a change in momentum. The more cushion there is in the egg design the more time it takes for the energy from the impact to disperse throughout the egg design which decreases the force on the egg.

During the egg designs fall, the object is doing work because the object is moving in the direction of the force applied, which is straight into the wall. Work = the change in Kinetic Energy. Kinetic Energy is seen throughout the entire fall because it is energy in motion. Work and the change in Kinetic energy are equal. The Work energy theorem increases the distance required to stop. The Impulse-momentum theory increases the time required to stop. Both of which reduce the force distributed on the egg which prevents damage.

THE END