Testing the Strength of an Ordinary Egg

October 31, 2000: Testing the Strength of an Ordinary Egg

Everybody knows how easy it is to break an egg, because of its very thin shell. Today our young scientists learned that an egg can also be very strong. Nature made it to be both light and strong, so that it can withstand the impact of falling to the ground when the egg is laid.

We talked about the properties of an egg: it is round, light, smooth and white. The children were asked to hypothesize (make a scientific guess) about the egg's strength. Is an egg strong and powerful, or weak and fragile?

five students said the egg was strong and powerful
eleven students said the egg was weak and fragile.
To find out the answer to our question, we carefully placed the uncooked, ordinary egg in some soft clay. Using the egg and the two blocks of wood, we made a triangular base to support a large, lightweight cookie sheet.

We slowly added books, one by one, to see how much weight the egg could help support. Excitement was building as each book was placed on the stack. In the end, we found the egg to support sixty-six books: over twenty pounds! Why didn't the egg break sooner? The egg has an arch at each end, an excellent structure for supporting weight.

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Last update: 10-31-00/mgl


We talked about the properties of an egg: it is round, light, smooth and white. The children were asked to hypothesize (make a scientific guess) about the egg's strength. Is an egg strong and powerful, or weak and fragile? five students said the egg was strong and powerful eleven students said the egg was weak and fragile.	To find out the answer to our question, we carefully placed the uncooked, ordinary egg in some soft clay. Using the egg and the two blocks of wood, we made a triangular base to support a large, lightweight cookie sheet.


We slowly added books, one by one, to see how much weight the egg could help support. Excitement was building as each book was placed on the stack.	In the end, we found the egg to support sixty-six books: over twenty pounds! Why didn't the egg break sooner? The egg has an arch at each end, an excellent structure for supporting weight.