Egg Drop Ideas?

[Juven Ignus]

(For those who don't know, an egg drop is when you must build a vessel that can cradle an egg and keep it safe from a 10 foot drop.)

Alright guys, here's the deal. My little sister's class is having an egg drop and every "survivor" gets a special reward. This would be fine for anyone, but she wants to be an overachiever, and she has enlisted me to help. There is an extra award for the most creative survivor, and I'm stuck.

So guys, any ideas? I've come up with a bat like thing, but it's wings don't seem to work well, and my mom is really hating us using up our eggs.

The requirements for this egg drop are that the vessel must be at most 6" x 6" x 6" and the egg can't be tampered with. The drop is 10 feet high and the vessels will literally be dropped, not tossed up.

 

[DoctorNick]

Huh, I remember doing this in grade school which is kind of odd considering that I usually have a hard time remembering what I had for lunch earlier today.

Anyway I think what I did with mine was I wrapped it up in bubble wrap, wedged that into one of those short pringles cans and rigged up a plastic bag as a parachute.

Worked like a charm, the egg was just dandy.

 

[Juven Ignus]

Can't you use the classic parachute?

Depends how high is the drop? If I could do some quick calcu...

How high is it and I'll base my plan around that.

It's a 10 foot drop, and pretty much everyone is using the parachute. I really love my lil' sis and I want this to come out really great for her.

Thanks a lot, bud.

 

[Kruxxor]

Water balloon filled with Jelly.

 

[Juven Ignus]

Water balloon filled with Jelly.

As creative as that is, I don't think the egg will survive that.

 

[Kruxxor]

Water balloon filled with Jelly.

As creative as that is, I don't think the egg will survive that.

Frozen Jelly.

 

[Juven Ignus]

Water balloon filled with Jelly.

As creative as that is, I don't think the egg will survive that.

Frozen Jelly.

Jelly freezes?

 

[Kruxxor]

Water balloon filled with Jelly.

As creative as that is, I don't think the egg will survive that.

Frozen Jelly.

Jelly freezes?

Egg in a bag of popcorn! PROOF = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1OtTrPYRuk

 

[Marine Mike]

An autorotating propeller would probably need to be larger than 6" to be effective.
Try a small housing for the egg surrounded by springs pointing in every direction, just getting the right kinda springs would be the issue.

 

[rabidmidget]

Put the egg into a balloon (deflated) and then put this balloon into another balloon with a hole at the top, so that the neck of the original balloon fits through the hole. Surround the egg with tape to secure it. Put the egg into a box with the necks poking out of holes in the side of the box, secure the necks to the box.

This makes your egg suspended inside the box and the flexibility of the balloons acts as suspension. The only way it can be cracked is if the necks get detached from the box or the balloons get unattached.

This would probably be explained better with a diagram

I think the trick wouldn't be to slow the egg's velocity, but to decrease the amount of pressure

EDIT: or you could do the old, giant bowl filled with jelly, as long as the jelly doesn't completely explode, it would probably be fine

 

[Juven Ignus]

Water balloon filled with Jelly.

As creative as that is, I don't think the egg will survive that.

Frozen Jelly.

Jelly freezes?

Egg in a bag of popcorn! PROOF = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1OtTrPYRuk

Interesting...I might need to test it out on 10 feet though. I'm not much of a physicist, but I think 10 feet might make a lil' bit of a difference.

 

[Juven Ignus]

Put the egg into a balloon (deflated) and then put this balloon into another balloon with a hole at the top, so that the neck of the original balloon fits through the hole. Surround the egg with tape to secure it. Put the egg into a box with the necks poking out of holes in the side of the box, secure the necks to the box.

This makes your egg suspended inside the box and the flexibility of the balloons acts as suspension. The only way it can be cracked is if the necks get detached from the box or the balloons get unattached.

This would probably be explained better with a diagram

I see what you're saying here, but wouldn't it cause a rubber band effect and hit the egg against the box?

Sorry if I'm nitpicking, but I only have three eggs left.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Go get two phone books. Take a bit of time, and hollow out a square to fit the egg, half an egg's diameter per book. Get a wad of newspaper, and surround the egg with the newspaper. put the egg in between the books, drop. No promises.

Alternatively: Get a box. small, large,whatever, but the squarer and smaller the easier it will be. Get a bunch of bubble wrap. Wrap the egg in bubble wrap, put it in the box. Put something heavy at the bottom of the box, so that the bottom will always be pointed down. For extra points, paint the box with question marks and chickens.

 

[EntropicBliss]

Put the egg in to the balloon, and fill the balloon with hydrogen or helium. Depending on the weight of the egg and the density of the balloon, that may be enough to soften the landing. You can usually pick these up at party stores.

You could also do a parachute with weighed prongs on the bottom, and cushions between the egg and the prongs. Think of a lunar lander with a parachute.

If you're good with balsa, you could also make a Leonardo Da Vinci-esque glider.

You could also do a small helicopter mechanism, easily acquired at a hobby shop. You just need an RC speed controller and a carrying cage.

My favorite, however, is the spring-loaded ball. What you need to do is make two metal dodecahedron cages, one considerably smaller than the other. At every joint, you put a small spring with cushioning at both ends. However, this requires some metalwork skill. You could do it out of wood, but wood tends to snap on impact.

 

[Juven Ignus]

Can't you use the classic parachute?

Depends how high is the drop? If I could do some quick calcu...

How high is it and I'll base my plan around that.

It's a 10 foot drop, and pretty much everyone is using the parachute. I really love my lil' sis and I want this to come out really great for her.

Thanks a lot, bud.

Snip

Thanks again for this. I really appreciate it.

 

[rabidmidget]

Put the egg into a balloon (deflated) and then put this balloon into another balloon with a hole at the top, so that the neck of the original balloon fits through the hole. Surround the egg with tape to secure it. Put the egg into a box with the necks poking out of holes in the side of the box, secure the necks to the box.

This makes your egg suspended inside the box and the flexibility of the balloons acts as suspension. The only way it can be cracked is if the necks get detached from the box or the balloons get unattached.

This would probably be explained better with a diagram

I see what you're saying here, but wouldn't it cause a rubber band effect and hit the egg against the box?

Sorry if I'm nitpicking, but I only have three eggs left.

If the box is large enough, the egg won't hit the sides

 

[Juven Ignus]

Put the egg into a balloon (deflated) and then put this balloon into another balloon with a hole at the top, so that the neck of the original balloon fits through the hole. Surround the egg with tape to secure it. Put the egg into a box with the necks poking out of holes in the side of the box, secure the necks to the box.

This makes your egg suspended inside the box and the flexibility of the balloons acts as suspension. The only way it can be cracked is if the necks get detached from the box or the balloons get unattached.

This would probably be explained better with a diagram

I see what you're saying here, but wouldn't it cause a rubber band effect and hit the egg against the box?

Sorry if I'm nitpicking, but I only have three eggs left.

If the box is large enough, the egg won't hit the sides

You think a 6" x 6" x 6" box would do the trick?

 

[crimson5pheonix]

Put it in a sandwich bag with 1 part water 10 parts cornstarch.

EDIT: Or is it a 2 to 1 ratio. I can't remember. Try at 2 to 1 and add more cornstarch until it becomes like honey of putty.