Modelling the Surface Area

and Volume of an Egg

Your name here.
Abstract.

Math relates fundamentally to everyday objects. This paper aims to demonstrate the application of
mathematical concepts by constructing a simple model for estimating the surface area and volume of
an egg. It hopes to:

 suggest a practical use, for example, as a method of estimating the protein content of an egg
using the model,

 show the deep link between applied maths and daily life and inspire others with its relevance.

Methods.

We will use integration to estimate the surface area and volume of the egg.

In mathematics, an integral is the continuous analogue of a sum, used in many areas, including but
not limited to calculating areas, volumes, etc. Integration, the process of computing an integral, is
one of the two fundamental operations of calculus – the other being differentiation.

While integration was initially a method to solve trivial problems in mathematics and physics, such
as finding areas under curves or determining displacement from a velocity function, it is used
ubiquitously in a wide variety of scientific fields.1

1
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integral
Exploration.

Step 1: Measuring the dimensions of the egg.

Using a ruler, and to provide a starting point, we initially model typical egg as having

 a height of 7 cm ± 0.05 cm
 a diameter of 2.65 cm ±0.05 cm around the middle.

Step 2: Finding a function that most accurately describes the egg.

Figure 1: Image of the egg; separation of the contour into 6 functions of x.

Procedure

1. An image of the egg (Figure 1) is uploaded to GeoGebra (Figure 2).

2. Points are placed along the contour of the egg (Figure 3). Here it is assumed that
f 1 ( x ) , f 2 ( x ) , ... , f 6 ( x ) are parabolas.
Figure 2: Overlay of image onto GeoGebra.

Figure 3: 15 points are placed on the contour of one side of the egg.

The coordinates of each point is shown in Table 1. The arc from the point O to Q is described by f 1 ( x )
, M to O by f 2 ( x ), C to M by f 2 ( x ), F to C by f 3 ( x ) , H to F by f 5 ( x ) , and J to H by f 6 ( x ) .
 Point x-coordinate y-coordinate
J 7 0
I 6.84 0.85
H 6.84 0.85
G 6.08 1.75
F 5.5 2.05
E 4.92 2.33
D 4.34 2.59
C 3.48 2.65
K 2.46 2.57
L 1.76 2.35
M 1.22 2.09
N 0.6 1.59
O 0.26 1.01
P 0.1 0.47
Q 0 0

Table 1: A list of coordinates of the points lying on egg contour.

3. Using the coordinates to try and find a function that fits the points.