How to Make an Egg Bounce as a Science Project
Science isn't just stuffy men in lab coats walking through drag, white rooms looking at beakers of chemicals and writing dull, long-winded reports --- science is about having fun while discovering the natural world. In this experiment, you will learn about not only the chemistry, biology and physics of eggs, but about how cool it is to turn them into bouncy balls.
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Instructions
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Write a hypothesis predicting whether dissolving the shell of an egg in acid will make it bouncier, less bouncy, or have no noticeable effect. Begin by performing research on the makeup of a chicken's eggs, which should give you some clues about the result you will get and why.
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Check your eggs to make sure none of their shells are cracked or bruised. Once you are sure you have good eggs, fill the three cups with vinegar and submerge an egg in each, covering their tops with plastic wrap to make sure they don't bob out over the course of the experiment.
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Place the cups in the refrigerator and leave them for four days. Place some paper towels on a plate and take the eggs and vinegar out of the refrigerator. Remove the plastic wrap and scoop the three eggs out of the cups and place them on the paper-towel covered plate. You should find that the shells have all dissolved from the eggs. This is because the eggs' shells are made of calcium carbonate, a compound that acids like vinegar can easily dissolve. You should also take an extra egg that you did not put in vinegar to compare the other three eggs with.
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Take the eggs on the paper plate outside. Lay some more paper towels on a flat surface, preferably concrete or blacktop, where you will perform the rest of the experiment. Begin by picking up one of the un-shelled eggs with the spoon and dropping it from a height of 2 inches to see if it will bounce, and add 1 inch every time until it breaks. Continue the process with the other eggs, including the egg that was not in the vinegar. In all cases, record what height the different eggs were at when the broke. If you have a stopwatch available, you could also record how long each egg stayed airborne each time you dropped it.
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Write a conclusion that either confirms or refutes your hypothesis. You should have found that the inner and outer membrane of the eggs being on the outside is what made the shell-less eggs bouncier. This membrane is designed to prevent bacteria from reaching the chick who would normally be inside the egg, but also to allow water to reach it. This makes for a springier surface that lets the un-shellled eggs bounce more before they crack.
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References
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