What are the forces acting on an egg as it falls?

Question

the egg drop project

Answer 1

There are actually three (3) forces capable of acting on the egg to change its motion:

1) The force due to gravity (self-explanatory)

2) Aerodynamic drag in the opposite direction of the egg's velocity. Also knowns as air friction or air resistance. Someone replied above with "viscous force" as being another force besides air resistance, but it's the same thing. For very low Reynolds numbers (small objects, low speeds, high viscosity), the predominant mechanism of air friction is viscous drag and the force is linear with respect to velocity. For large Reynolds numbers (larger object, higher speed, less viscosity), viscous drag is no longer the dominant mechanism and the force due to aerodynamic drag now becomes proportional to the square of the velocity. An egg being dropped falls into the latter category.

3) Buoyancy force. The same force that propels a helium balloon upward is also acting on the egg. However, in the case of the egg and any object of comparable density, its bulk density is much greater than the air it displaces so the buoyancy force isn't nearly enough to overcome the gravitational force to make it float or rise. But this doesn't mean that buoyancy force is not acting on the egg. It is acting, but it is very very tiny and in cases where the bulk density is much greater than the air it can be ignored without incurring much error at all.

There is also air pressure acting in all directions, putting a compressive stress on the egg. But since this force is balanced in all directions, it does not impart a NET force to the egg and so it does not affect its motion.

Practically speaking, to solve an egg drop type of physics problem, you really only need to consider gravity and air friction to obtain an accurate answer. And for egg drop problems where the velocity is small compared to its terminal velocity, you can even ignore air friction and still obtain a fairly accurate answer.

Answer 2

1> Gravitational Force
2> Air resistance
3> Viscous force

Answer 3

There are 2 forces acting on the ball: air resistance which is also known as friction, and its weight which is equal to gravity since it is falling vertically and without initial velocity..good luck.

Answer 4

Gravity...and then the force applied by the floor when the egg eventually stops.

Answer 5

gravity (9.8 m/s2 downward) & friction (the force applied by air around the egg)

Answer 6

Gravity
Air friction
Air pressure (in equilibrium)