Physics: Egg Catcher AKA “Air Bag”

Due Date: Friday, January 15, 2016. Bring your project into school!!

Objective

Your team must build a device into which an egg will be dropped. Teams are either 1 or 2 people.

  • The device must protect the egg, preventing it from cracking.
  • The eggs will be white, non-organic eggs.
  • The devices are going to be placed over a tile floor. I recommend testing your device this way!

Rules of the Contest

A. The Device:

1. Must be no taller than 5 cm when measured from the ground to the highest point on the device.

2. Must not be larger than 2000 cm2 in area.

3. After each drop, the egg must be extracted from the device and must have no remains of the device remaining on the egg. Example: If you make a device out of mayonaise, you need to have a layer of saran wrap over the top to stop the egg from getting messy.

4. The device must be portable, and moving the device must not require any rebuilding, nor may it change the dimensions of the device. Messy or leaky projects will be removed from the competition and placed in the trash.

B. The Competition:

1. Devices will be measured for height. Any device which is slightly taller than 5 cm will lose 2 points. Significantly taller projects will lose more.

2. Eggs will be checked and numbered by the judge.

3. Contestants will drop the egg from a height of 2 m above the ground.

4. Successes will be recorded.

5. Each successive drop will be from 1 meter higher than the previous drop.

C. The Scoring

The project is worth 20summative points:

  • Construction of a legal device: (5 pts)
  • Legal height – 5 cm or less tall
  • Points for the drop: (10 pts)
  • The grades are as follows:
  • 0:breaks on 2 meters
  • 5:survives 2-meter drop
  • 8:survives 3-meter drop
  • 10:survives 4-meter drop
  • XC:5 meter location (only legal devices eligible)
  • Good Citizenship (5 pts)
  • Cleaning up your project
  • Cleaning up egg residue
  • Helping out if needed

General Hints:

Since you get graded on how safe this device is for the egg, you need to make sure you test it out!!!!

Devices that are thrown together at the last minute typically (always) don’t work out.

Egg Catcher Q +A

1. Q: What should I make my project out of?

A: It’s up to you. Stuff from the kitchen is typically popular, as are packaging materials. However, if your project is making a complete mess of the place, I’m throwing it out, with heavy penalties. If your project involves water, make sure the water stays in the project.

2. Q: I did one of these in 3rd grade, in Mrs. Whoever’s class, where we put the egg in something. How is this different?

A: This time a regular egg (with nothing on it) is getting dropped onto a project which is lying still on the ground.

3.Q: What if my device is too tall?

A: Points will be taken off based on how tall above 5cm your device is. Devices over 5cm are not eligible for extra credit.

4. Q: How should I test my project?

A: I would recommend testing the project laying on the floor instead of carpet. This can make a difference.

5. Q: Who’s providing the eggs?

A: I’m bringing white, non-organic, large eggs. Your group will pick which egg looks best, and I’ll number it with Sharpie.

6. Q: Who’s dropping the eggs?

A: I will drop the egg through a hoop which has been placed over a target. The horizontal placement of the device is up to you.

7. Q: What happens if my egg breaks on a drop?

A: You get as many points as your last successful drop. After that, it’s your job to clean up the project, and any egg residue. This is where those 10 Citizenship points come in!

8.Q: What if I use a bag system and the bag pops between drops?

A: The team members aren’t allowed to make ANY changes to the device between drops. This team has to drop the egg on the popped bag.

9. Q: What if the egg drops successfully onto the device, but bounces up and breaks on the floor?

A: A break is a break. The egg has to survive the entire drop!

10. Q: What if my egg survives all indoor drops?

A: Great news! Your team will take your device to the mystery location zone. I’ll hang onto the eggs and drop them onto your project. If it survives, hold onto the egg, and give it back to me for the extra credit. If not, clean it up.

11. Q: What if the egg hits the side of my device and breaks?

A: There’s nothing I can do about it, but this is why it makes sense to make your project with as much area as possible (under 2000 cm2). This will minimize the chances of the egg totally missing the project.

12.Q: My project was, um… destroyed…. by…. Alien invaders……

A: Feel free to construct a project with stuff from around the room. There’s no changing/joining other groups.

This project is a lot of fun, just make a good device, test it out ahead of time, and clean up if necessary.