Egg Drop Project Report

Physics 2014
Courtney Nelson and Brianna Albaugh

Purpose
The purpose of the egg drop project was to discover how momentum and impulse effect
an egg. In order to do the project effectively you had to figure out how increase time of impact
and slow momentum to save your egg from certain demise.

Vessel
Our vessel was composed of a shoe box, cotton balls, craft balls, and fluff. The shoebox
was 21 1/2 centimeters by 20 centimeters, the mass was 294 grams in total with the egg. Within
the box was the egg surrounded by the cotton balls, craft balls, and fluff. The egg was also
suspended by three strings. The goal of the suspension was to allow for greater time before the
egg actually hit and cotton and craft balls were
meant to lessen the force as the egg hit. This is

the initial design of the egg suspension

box.

A live picture of the inside of the box.

Calculations

Variable

Atrium (dy = 4.72 m)

Bleachers (dy = 6.7 m)

Mass (Egg and Vessel)

Time of Drop
Initial Velocity (Vi)
Final Velocity (Vf)
Change in Momentum
)
Impulse (

Applications to Real-Life Situations

The physics of an egg drop has many other purposes than just that of an egg.
Throughout the world there are many other situations that require a reduction in momentum for
fun and safety reasons. One real life situation that involves an impulse-momentum relationship
is a helmet. You have to be able to decrease the momentum and force when playing football to
avoid brain injuries. Another relationship are mats used in gymnastics because with all of the
tumbling they have to be able to reduce the injuries so they use the padding to decrease the
amount of time a gymnast takes to reach the floor.