How can i slow down an egg in an egg drop experiment? (NO PARACHUTES)?

Question

This is for an experiment at school. We will be dropping this from about 1 story high. I am really looking into how I can slow down the egg instead of protecting the egg. Again NO PARACHUTES, my teacher says we have to be creative.

This is for an experiment at school. We will be dropping this from about 1 story high. I am really looking into how I can slow down the egg instead of protecting the egg. Again NO PARACHUTES, my teacher says we have to be creative. I don't want to leave the house for materials.

I just need the force of gravity to pull it down. Just need to wrap it around paper somehow to make it fall slower (air resistance).

Answer 1

Put a rotor on it so that it starts to spin as it drops. Its not a parachute, but as long as its balanced and the blades are large enough, it will slow the egg a lot.

This method will not work as well if the place where you'll be testing is windy.

Answer 2

When I did this experiment in school I just protected the egg,because it was easier. There were some classmates that slowed it down as you ask. There were 2 methods used.

The first was an electric motor and string. You put the egg in a sock, tie a string to it and have enough string on the spool to make it to the ground. The spool is hooked to an electric motor and when you flipped the switch it went down at a controlled rate.

The second was a pulley and weight system. You put the egg in a sock and tie it to a string. It goes over a pulley and a weight is tied to the other end to slow the egg down. They used a half gallon milk container partially fill with water as a weight. It has to be lighter than the egg to start with and get lighter as it goes up and the egg goes down. This is accomplished by putting a small hole in the bottom of the container and filling the container to a known amount (draw a line on the container).

I preferred to protect it because I only needed to get a box, one of my moms' pantyhose and some staples. Put the egg in the pantyhose and staple the ends in the center of 2 opposite sides and the pantyhose provide enough spring to take the impact without breaking the egg. The box is to give enough distance between the pavement and the egg for the pantyhose to stretch but not have the egg contact the pavement.

Of course you may wish to combine protecting the egg with slowing it down if you want to make sure it doesn't break.

Answer 3

Use a small rope or string and atach it to egg and slowly lower your egg down, hey it's not a parachute! and it will work. Also, try placing the egg into a hollowed out oarnge and placing the oarnge inside a ballon. I saw both these techniches on a show on tv, (not sure if I can mention what it was) and both ways worked well.

Answer 4

Build a spiral slide and cover it with with the soft side of Velcro, this will slow down the egg.

Answer 5

Use a streamer that is long to slow it down and keep it right side up. Use rice crispies or Cheerios to cushion the impact.