# Egg drop



## VP7 (Jan 25, 2009)

I know this way off topic but...

One of my sons has to do this stupid egg drop thing.
Ya, your thinking big deal everyone does this.

Here is the specs for the drop.

Container: Small as possable.
Mass of container: <125g - egg (egg 50-60g)
Max mass: 125g With egg.
Speed: Fall fast as possable.
Target: Hit and stay. (No bounce or roll)
Target size: 18 x 18 in.
Egg: No damage.
Accessibility: No effort to look @ egg to see if egg is damaged.

New Info:
Teacher will hand out eggs @ the drop time.
Eggs will be warm room temp.
No use of water, jell-o or similar.
Drop of 30 feet onto concrete.

Past limits = Fail

Any ideas ????


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## 4Chan (Jan 25, 2009)

YES!

Parachutes!!!!!!

AT LEAST 3 PARACHUTES.


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## ThePizzaGuy92 (Jan 25, 2009)

ever tried breaking an egg long ways? it's not easy, maybe that could be used to your advantage?


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## VP7 (Jan 25, 2009)

Sorry, I forgot to add target size to list.
Parachutes may drift from target.


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## DavidWoner (Jan 25, 2009)

when I was younger I used a plastic cylindrical container about 5 inches tall and 2 inches in diameter. I packed it with cotton balls, but not too tight(they need to be able to absorb the shock, not transfer it). Then I put it in a small cardboard box filled with packing peanuts (optional). My brother and I were literally kicking the box off of a drop of more than 2 stories and it wasn't breaking. We took the container out of the box and started throwing it around. The egg finally broke when the container hit the ground while spinning end over end and the lid popped off, sending the egg flying in to our fence. 

The best thing to do is experiment beforehand, its hard to get the right amount of cotton. I also dont know how the box will affect the weight/bouncing restriction, so its important to get the cylinder right.

edit: Oh yes, I forgot. put the egg in the cylinder longways, and try to drop it longways as well.


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## zippur (Jan 25, 2009)

lots of duct tape


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## mazei (Jan 25, 2009)

zippur said:


> lots of duct tape



And how are you suppose to look at the egg afterwards? My school had this thing too. The best was to cover the egg in those plastic straws used for drinking but I think this will bounce. Maybe try making some jelly and put the egg in. And put that in a rectangular box covered with something that can absorb some shock(to stop the bounce and egg breaking).


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## Ton (Jan 25, 2009)

boil it first ,
the specs does not specify the type of egg, so you can choice 
boil it first
use a stone egg etc
As specs are not clear you can select one


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## mazei (Jan 25, 2009)

Ton's got a point.


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## Sa967St (Jan 25, 2009)

wrap some rubber bands around the egg


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## mazei (Jan 25, 2009)

Sa967St said:


> wrap some rubber bands around the egg



Wouldn't that cause it to bounce?


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## VP7 (Jan 25, 2009)

Ton said:


> boil it first ,
> the specs does not specify the type of egg, so you can choice
> boil it first
> use a stone egg etc
> As specs are not clear you can select one



Talked to my son about this less the 30 min. ago.
Teacher will hand out eggs @ the drop time.
No chance to boil or freeze.

No use of water, jell-o or similar.

Drop of 30 feet onto concrete.



mazei said:


> Sa967St said:
> 
> 
> > wrap some rubber bands around the egg
> ...



No, that would be egg guts and rubbers flung everywhere.


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## (X) (Jan 25, 2009)

see-through plastic box filled with plastic foil(used to cover up food etc.)


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## shelley (Jan 25, 2009)

Any restrictions on building materials? When I did this in middle school our containers were to be made of nothing but toothpicks and hot glue.


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## VP7 (Jan 25, 2009)

(X) said:


> see-through plastic box filled with plastic foil(used to cover up food etc.)



FAIL:
Teacher would have to open box and remove plastic wrap.

Teachers, can't kill'em or pass school without them.



shelley said:


> Any restrictions on building materials? When I did this in middle school our containers were to be made of nothing but toothpicks and hot glue.



Common household items only.
So the use of carbon nano-fibers is out.

If a container could be built so that the teacher does not have to open, it's cool then.
If not Fail.


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## mazei (Jan 25, 2009)

Well my straw idea was good at 30 feet. But I'm just unsure about the bouncy-ness of it.

Other Ideas:
Parachute: You could make a parachute that won't go somewhere else. I always do it.

Create some kind of pocket that has a heavy but absorbent bottom.


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## nitrocan (Jan 25, 2009)

ThePizzaGuy92 said:


> ever tried breaking an egg long ways? it's not easy, maybe that could be used to your advantage?



It's almost impossible. I saw four eggs placed perfectly lifting a car on TV.


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## mazei (Jan 25, 2009)

nitrocan said:


> ThePizzaGuy92 said:
> 
> 
> > ever tried breaking an egg long ways? it's not easy, maybe that could be used to your advantage?
> ...



Well that's constant pressure. I think if it is falling the force during impact is higher than the amount of the pressure a car can give. I may be wrong. I'm just learning physics this year for the first time.


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## d4m4s74 (Jan 25, 2009)

don't put anything on the egg
lay something under the egg to catch it

if that's not allowed, something really bendy

the best way I know in which the teacher can still see it is by strapping some sort of foam on one side of the egg and use fins to stabilize (fins can also be used in combo with parachute)


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## Leviticus (Jan 25, 2009)

nitrocan said:


> ThePizzaGuy92 said:
> 
> 
> > ever tried breaking an egg long ways? it's not easy, maybe that could be used to your advantage?
> ...



Impossible is nothing.


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## mazei (Jan 25, 2009)

Well that suspension thing would work best i guess. Make is into a pyramid shape. It should work better.


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## CAT13 (Jan 26, 2009)

Easy. The rules say nothing about that you aren't allowed to put a box full of soft stuff on the landing spot then just drop the egg into the box. It would probably help to make a container for the drop, also.

EDIT: even easier. It is called a string. A long one.


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## Unknown.soul (Jan 26, 2009)

CAT13 said:


> even easier. It is called a string. A long one.


Eggsactly. (bad pun )


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## fanwuq (Jan 26, 2009)

I had to do this with only uncooked pasta and tape a few year ago. I just layered the pasta at the bottom and it failed at 3ft, haha. I think the winning people made legs out of the pasta. The legs just broke at impact and the egg was fine.


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## Bryan (Jan 26, 2009)

VP7 said:


> (X) said:
> 
> 
> > see-through plastic box filled with plastic foil(used to cover up food etc.)
> ...



No, You don't really need padding on the top, so just make the cover of the box clear. 

"No effort to look at the egg" is very vague. It takes some effort to look. Do you need to see the entire egg? Or just parts of it? 

Make a box that has a picture of an egg on the sides. Make the picture only appear when something is placed in the box.

Also, "No use of water, Jell-o, or similar". What's similar? Is foam similar? What about a rubbery component? Do they want to ban anything with a certain viscosity? 

"Fall as fast as possible" - OK, so should I be building my design to specifically cut down on wind resistance?

Seriously, those regulations are poorly thought out.

Make a block that holds the end in a bunch of sand so that equal pressure is all around the egg to prevent cracking, and when the thing hits the ground, have it dump out the sand so that the egg becomes visible.


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## zippur (Jan 26, 2009)

ok heres what you do.

tape your son to the egg.
have him cradle it like a little baby (awww so cute)
the throw him off.
he might not turn out so hot, but the egg will


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## Unknown.soul (Jan 26, 2009)

His son would be considered as the "container" and he obviously weighs more than 125g (~.28 pounds)


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## cardmagic12345 (Jan 26, 2009)

Duct tape it to a puffy pillow and throw it so it lands on the opposite side.


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## VP7 (Jan 27, 2009)

Here is the design we came up with.

A pyramid shaped container popcorn as padding
Container just little bigger then egg.
Super glue popcorn to inside of container. (some loose)
Glue a cut toothpick to top of egg.
Egg at very center of pyramid base, ontop of popcorn.
Fold sides up hold together with super small piece of tape at top 
sides will bulge out a bit.
Drop container, toothpick removes tape at top
Sides fall away from the pressure of popcorn. (not always all sides)
Popcorn will crush a little from weight of egg.
About 1/3 of the drops egg will roll.
Going to play the odds on this. 2/3 not too bad.


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## Ton (Jan 27, 2009)

Ton said:


> boil it first ,
> the specs does not specify the type of egg, so you can choice
> boil it first
> use a stone egg etc
> As specs are not clear you can select one



In that case I would use a mini fire escape shute, material can be a very light tube to slow down the fall 
like
http://images.google.nl/imgres?imgurl=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2384/2288734521_ddae158bbc.jpg&imgrefurl=http://flickr.com/photos/garyhymes/2288734521/&usg=__OVeHHXAAz3WtANNC_xKlUoTUa5U=&h=500&w=375&sz=152&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=_Cjr6vhVOb_XKM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=98&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfire%2Bescape%2Bshute%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1C1GGLS_nlNL300NL303%26sa%3DN

The egg still drops ....


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## Stefan (Jan 27, 2009)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4608

And what's the goal of this? To win? If so, how is the winner determined?


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## d4m4s74 (Jan 27, 2009)

the winner is the egg which survives the highest drop


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## Stefan (Jan 27, 2009)

d4m4s74 said:


> the winner is the egg which survives the highest drop


Apparently not:


VP7 said:


> Drop of 30 feet onto concrete.


No height variation here.


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## d4m4s74 (Jan 27, 2009)

most blows survived? (drop, live, drop, live, drop, live, drop, omelet)


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## mazei (Jan 27, 2009)

And once again Stefan beats us all with the best idea.


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## Stefan (Jan 27, 2009)

mazei said:


> And once again Stefan beats us all with the best idea.



Depends. No idea whether such a helicopter can indeed carry an egg. Also it doesn't match the "Fall fast as possable" spec. On the other hand, that spec is stupid.

Can we just get a copy of the full written rules including how to "win" (if it's a competition and "succeeding" alone isn't enough)?


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## panyan (Jan 27, 2009)

i actually did this at school and what i did was i made a box to the required size and suspended an egg in it. I then filled the box with expanding foam and removed the box. What was left was a cube of foam with a seam where you could insert the egg and then put the two halves of foam around it and sellotape them together thus creating an impenetrable egg holder - mwahahaha


i actually won this competition, it was in our DT classes at school in 4th form


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