Jack OCallaghan SRT Egg Drop Challenge Term 3

Abstract:

The aim of the experiment was to make an egg fall from 3m and not break. To make the egg not
break, parachutes were made and different methods were used. The group dropped the egg three
times in total. All attempts were successful as the egg did not break on any of the tries. However, the
second attempt was the fastest which only took 2.87 seconds. The slowest attempt, the third
attempt, took 3.11 seconds.

Discussion/Analysis:

A parachute is used to slow down movement in the air (MadeHow, 2017). However, the experiment
tested the group so that the parachute had to fall to the ground as fast as possible. To do this the
group used a circular parachute with a diameter of 82.4cm and a circle in the middle. There is a hole
in the middle as the air that gets trapped in the parachute goes through the hole, which stabilises
the parachute. If there were no holes, the trapped air would exit through the sides of the parachute,
making it unstable (Saunders, 2005). The parachute was attached to a shoe box. Inside the shoebox,
the bottom was fitted with bubble wrap which was the first protection from the ground. Then there
was the sponge which was held together by rubber bands in the corners of the box. This was the
second defence of the egg.

The first parachute drop was perfect and took 3.06 seconds. The second drop was landed well but
the parachute box was open; leaving the sponge (with the egg inside) at risk. This was the fastest
drop recorded taking only 2.87 seconds. The third and final drop was double checked to see that the
parachute box was not open, then dropped. It hit the fence on the second floor making it slow
down. The time recorded was 3.11 seconds.

Attempt 1 Attempt 2 Attempt 3

Time 3.06s 2.87s 3.11s
Observation Egg was fine Egg was fine Egg was fine
Velocity* 2.94m/s 3.14m/s 2.89m/s
*Velocity formula: (m/s) = d/t = distance / time

Things that could be improved would be double checking the parachute drop and aiming where to
drop. This would make the parachute not open like the second attempt and hit the fence like the
third attempt.

Conclusion:

Therefore, the best parachute drop was the second which took only 2.87 seconds with a velocity of
3.14m/s. The worst drop took 3.11 seconds with a velocity of 2.89m/s. All of the drops were
successful and the egg did not break.