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    Science of The Egg Drop1

    Uploaded by

    Virginia Fernandez
    The document discusses the physics concepts relevant to an egg drop experiment. It explains the forces of gravity, drag, and impact that act on an egg as it falls. It discusses how Newton's laws of motion apply, including how the egg gains potential energy when lifted and converts it to kinetic energy during free fall. The first law of thermodynamics is also mentioned - that energy is neither created nor destroyed, just transferred between forms. The objective is to both maximize drag to slow the fall and minimize impact force transferred to the egg through its protector.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Science of The Egg Drop1

    Uploaded by

    Virginia Fernandez
    112 views2 pages
    The document discusses the physics concepts relevant to an egg drop experiment. It explains the forces of gravity, drag, and impact that act on an egg as it falls. It discusses how Newton's laws of motion apply, including how the egg gains potential energy when lifted and converts it to kinetic energy during free fall. The first law of thermodynamics is also mentioned - that energy is neither created nor destroyed, just transferred between forms. The objective is to both maximize drag to slow the fall and minimize impact force transferred to the egg through its protector.

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    Science of the Egg Drop1

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    The document discusses the physics concepts relevant to an egg drop experiment. It explains the forces of gravity, drag, and impact that act on an egg as it falls. It discusses how Newton's laws of motion apply, including how the egg gains potential energy when lifted and converts it to kinetic energy during free fall. The first law of thermodynamics is also mentioned - that energy is neither created nor destroyed, just transferred between forms. The objective is to both maximize drag to slow the fall and minimize impact force transferred to the egg through its protector.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    112 views2 pages

    Science of The Egg Drop1

    Uploaded by

    Virginia Fernandez
    The document discusses the physics concepts relevant to an egg drop experiment. It explains the forces of gravity, drag, and impact that act on an egg as it falls. It discusses how Newton's laws of motion apply, including how the egg gains potential energy when lifted and converts it to kinetic energy during free fall. The first law of thermodynamics is also mentioned - that energy is neither created nor destroyed, just transferred between forms. The objective is to both maximize drag to slow the fall and minimize impact force transferred to the egg through its protector.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    The Physics of an Egg Drop

    Forces to consider during the Egg Drop:


    1. Gravity: This is the force that pulls
    objects towards each other. On our
    planet, objects are pulled towards the
    center of the earth, which causes them
    to fall downwards.
    2. Drag: Often this is also called “Air
    Resistance.” Drag is when forces are
    acting in the opposite direction of the
    motion of an object.
    3. Impact: Impact is the high force (or
    shock) applied over a short period of
    time when 2 or more objects collide. The
    effect depends on the relative velocity
    (or speed) of the two objects to one
    another.

    How do Newton’s Laws apply to an Egg Drop?


    1. An object at rest tends to remain at rest and an object in motion tends
    to continue moving in a straight-line at constant speed, unless an
    outside force acts upon it.

    The egg will not fall unless it is dropped (an object at rest). While at
    rest, the egg has potential energy. The egg gains potential energy
    as it is transported to a higher elevation for performing the egg drop
    experiment.

    Once dropped, it will fall. This demonstrates kinetic energy. It will be


    acted upon by the following forces:
    a. Gravity: which will pull it toward the earth and cause its speed
    to accelerate.
    b. Drag: depending upon how the egg protector is built, this will
    vary, but drag will slow the fall of the egg down. Drag does not
    destroy kinetic energy, but instead creates friction (between
    the air and the object creating drag) and as a result transfers
    the energy into heat energy (another form of kinetic energy).
    c. Impact: ultimately, the egg (and its protector) will hit the
    ground. The size and amount of the impact will depend upon
    the speed with which the egg and protector were falling.

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    The Physics of an Egg Drop
    2. Force = Mass times acceleration.

    The egg will accelerate based on the


    pull of gravity. How much it accelerates
    depends on the height from which the
    egg was dropped and the mass of the
    egg and protector. Force will increase
    with larger masses and higher heights.

    3. For every action, there is an equal and


    opposite reaction.

    The egg will hit the ground. It will exert


    some amount of force on the ground
    when it hits (the impact force). The
    ground will, in turn, exert that same amount of force on the egg.

    How does the first law of thermodynamics apply to an egg drop?

    Energy cannot be created or destroyed.

    The potential energy the egg has when it is at rest is converted into
    kinetic energy as it falls because of the force of gravity. Energy can be
    transferred from one kind to another, but it is never destroyed. When the
    egg hits the floor, the kinetic energy is transferred again, this time to the
    egg and the packaging materials used in building the egg protector.

    So, what’s the objective in building the egg protector?


    1. Maximize drag. What can you do to slow down the fall of the egg
    protector?
    2. Minimize impact. What can you do to help “soak up” some of the
    impact energy so it all doesn’t end up going into (and breaking) the
    egg?

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