Belcher 1

Karina Belcher
LA Period 3
Informative Essay
February 13, 2015
Egg-Dropper Results
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, said Sir
Isaac Newton. Potential energy and kinetic energy are constantly changing,
friction will occur upon impact, and air resistance could change the results.
These kinds of concepts were the only things I had been thinking about these
past few days. The egg dropper experiment we started was to teach the 8th
grade students about the different forms of energy and Newtons laws. Some
of these examples include kinetic energy, potential energy, and the first,
second, and third laws of energy and movement. In order to test these, we
had to surround a raw egg with materials to prevent it from breaking when
we dropped it to the ground from a height of 5.44 meters. Our egg dropper
survived because we had a lead weight on the bottom that controlled the
point of impact, the materials used protected the egg and also cushioned at
the same time, and a two-part design that allowed minimal shock to reach
the egg.
My partners and I took many steps in order to make our egg dropper.
The first step we used to make the egg dropper was gathering materials like
different forms of bubble-wrap, ribbon to stop the egg dropper from

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exploding out, and a lead fish to control the spot on the dropper where it met
the ground. We came up with a very basic design so that we could test the
different lead weights, in order to gain some more knowledge about the
physics of the experiment, but it did work. After disassembling it and taking
the materials to school, we realized that in the process of throwing it from
the window so many times, a lot of the bubbles in the big outer layer of
bubble wrap had been popped. So my teammates and I put our heads
together to figure out a way to prevent this from happening and still have
the egg survive. At the first draft, all of our tape was used to keep the
dropper closed and make the structure. Then we realized that we used too
much tape on the design and decided that it would be used better if we
made a soft shield for the outer bubble wrap. Next we tested it and realized
that the dropper was not circular like others had been with the idea of an
equal amount of shock on the egg no matter where it landed. Ours looked
like two different pieces of bubble wrap had been taped together, so we
taped the lead weight to the very bottom of the dropper and put the egg in
the center of the opposite side so that the egg was as far away from the
point of impact as possible. It turned out to work and also create some
excitement when dropped because the hard lead made a sound like an egg
cracking. Overall, the dropper looked like an egg and was seventeen by
fourteen centimeters, perfect for the size restrictions.

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Our data could be considered average in some ways and different in
others, but the egg still survived with these results. At the time of dropping,
the egg droppers were at a height of 5.44 meters. Our groups dropper
survived, even though we scared everyone when the lead made a horrible
cracking sound upon reaching the floor. It had a mass of 0.2059 kilograms
and weighed 2.059 Newtons. It had a gravitational potential energy of 11.2
Joules, a velocity of 9.212 meters per second, and a kinetic energy of 8.74
Joules. I realized that the kinetic energy was very important in the overall
outcome of the project. If our kinetic energy was too low or too high, and the
materials were not used properly, the egg would break. After looking
extensively at the data collected from all classes, I noticed a pattern. In
droppers that had a kinetic energy of 0-4 Joules, the egg cracked. The other
droppers that had a kinetic energy of 4-12 Joules survived the drop. The egg
also survived because there were balanced forces instead of unbalanced
forces; otherwise, the egg would have broken. Those from 12-33 Joules,
cracked, and 33 Joules and higher survived (see Appendix A). This was using
fifty-three percent of all of the data. Our dropper had a kinetic energy of 8.74
Joules and that fell into the range of four to twelve Joules which, I believe,
combined with the materials, stopped the egg from cracking.
There were three main factors that could have broken or saved our
egg. First, our egg dropper survived because we had a lead that controlled
the angle of the fall so that the dropper would hit the ground on the point

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that was furthest away from the egg. My partners could tell because the
dropper fell straight and didnt spin in the air during its 0.94 second drop
time. We also wouldve heard a dull thud if it hadnt landed on the lead, but it
made a loud crack sound upon impact which told us that the lead hit the
ground first before rolling. This makes sense because the acceleration of the
dropper depended on the mass, and the part of the dropper that had the
most mass would hit the ground first according to Newtons second law.
Second, our dropper had quality materials that were chosen for a reason. We
know this because we chose the materials with different qualities in mind,
and the egg didnt break. The materials chosen were in part of the fact that
we didnt want a hard-shell design because that would induce too much force
or energy on the egg and cause it to break. The bubble wrap that protected
the egg was surrounding the entire surface of the egg. The materials stopped
the egg from continuing in motion because of the fall, according to Newtons
first law. The materials absorbed the initial shock, and when it hit the ground
with so much kinetic energy, the floor pushed back with an equal amount of
force causing the dropper to bounce back and roll on the ground as Newtons
third law stated and also showed that a transfer of kinetic energy had taken
place. The third and main reason the egg dropper survived was the two-part
design that allowed minimal shock on the egg. The egg didnt break, and the
dropper was two different parts had been constructed, and then taped
together. One part was for durability and for absorbing the force of impact,

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and the other was soft, cushioned, and held the egg in place. The kinetic
energy of the dropper transferred into the floor and back up onto the part of
the dropper that did not have the egg, allowing the egg to be furthest away
from the kinetic energy, so by the time the energy reached the egg, it had
already dissipated enough that it didnt affect the egg.
My egg dropper survived because we had a lead weight to control the
angle of fall, we had quality materials, and a two-part design that allowed
minimal shock on the egg. Our experiment could have been improved by
experimenting all of the different designs, materials, and placements of the
egg. Our group had ideas about a shape that could be made from toothpicks
and still protect the egg. Another idea was creating a container out of
paperboard that could hold flour or sand, and that might stop the egg from
breaking. The actual dropper that we used could have been better if we had
a proper way to get the egg in and out, like a door, without having to un-tape
the entire project and recreate it.

Work Cited
Appendix A. 12 Jan. 2015. Patterns in Kinetic Energy. Blatchley Middle
School, Sitka.