Egg Drop Report

1. Describe your thought process as you developed an initial idea for your egg-catcher.

     When Maddie and I first designed our egg-catcher we thought that about how good of cushion we could have to where the egg would not break.  

We also thought about how the center of gravity in the egg, would effect the drop.  Thus this is why the papered cushion in the cup, was a main priority.  Since we were only allowed 2 pieces of paper, we crumbled it up and then flattened it out, to make it softer.  We also shredded a piece of paper to make even more cushion.  

We also thought about designing a cup that had straws on the side to weigh down the cup as the egg was dropped.  We even thought about how the center of gravity in the egg, would effect the drop. As you can see Our biggest idea for this project, was to make it to have the softest landing as possible.  

2. Describe what changes you made to your design as the competition went along. Tell why you made those changes. Include a detailed and labeled sketch of your best design.

In the process of the Egg drop project, we quickly discovered that our cup had many problems. It was tipping to much and we needed to weigh it down with popsicle sticks. Before, we had straws connected to it. The straws did not weigh enough to keep the cup from tipping over when the egg landed in the cup. Just by using the fake egg, we could tell that if we used a real egg it would break when the cup tipped over. Then, we got four popsicle sticks and taped them to the bottom to where they were placed to look like a cross. This helped a lot but there was still something missing. We cut up some straws and put them under the paper at the bottom of the cup. This made to where the egg would not hit the bottom hard.

3. Give a second-by-second descriptive account of your most successful trial.

Our most successful trial in the egg drop project, was when we dropped the egg 3 meters off the  stairwell and into the cup. We had already fluffed up the paper in our cup to where it was filled to the top with paper.  Maddie used the string to calculate in what place to drop the egg.  We were both on edge about trying from the 3.0 meters.  We only had 1 egg left to spare, and if this didn't make it into the cup then we had to settle for an A-.  Finally to end the suspense, we dropped the egg.  In, what felt like seconds, it flew into the cup.  We were cheering! We had made an A! Then one of our classmates informs us that the egg had broken inside the cup. Mr. Lammers inspected it and said, since we made it into the cup then we could keep an A! Although our egg had broken, we had many things to be satisfied with.  First of all, we had an A. Second I will never forget that moment of shear joy that I had when it landed in the cup.

4. Describe the difficulties you had with this project. (e.g. Did you give your best effort?  Did you have trouble with design?  With equipment?  With construction? With execution?)

One of the many difficulties in this project was finding the right route to success.  At first we had trouble with the design. We made many different designs until one finally worked. We were very determined to get an A. Our effort in this project was great, we did not give up until we succeeded. The equipment that Mr. Lammers gave us was extremely fair. At first we had trouble knowing what the straws and popsicle sticks were for. This contributed to the problems of constructing a design, because we had no idea what to do. He gave us 2 pieces of paper, 4 rubber bands, 4 popsicle sticks, a meter long piece of tape, straws, and a cup. I think this also gave us a hint to how we should have designed our cup. EXECUTION-- Carrying out the project was an interesting process. Looking back on this project I think about all the mistakes I made along the way

5. Tell what you could have done to improve your egg drop project performance?

Looking back on this project I think about all the mistakes I made along the way. To start, I should have known that something had to weigh down the cup. Second of all, I should have known that even if we have a lot of paper you have to have something that will bounce off of it.

6. Describe the motion of your egg mathematically* and by creating at least one graph. [*Note: include average speed, acceleration, momentum, and force of impact calculations. Show three steps.]

AVERAGE SPEED-- distance divided by time= 3.5 meters divided by .67 seconds= 5 meters/seconds. When dropping the egg in to the cup, we calculated the speed that it was dropped at. This connected to motion because the egg was moving. When I held the egg in my hand it had a speed of 0 meters / seconds.

acceleration-- fv - sv divided by time = 8 meters - 0 divided by .67 seconds= 11.94 meters/second squared. This connected to motion because when we dropped the egg, we wanted to see if the speed accelerated at any point in time. The egg accelerates as it falls.

momentum-- mass times volocity= .0654 times 5.2= .34 kg meters/seconds We calculated this to see what was gained by the egg.

force of impact-- mass times acceleration= .0654 kg times 11.94 m/s =.78 meters
This connects to motion because we wanted to see how fast and hard the egg hit the cup.  If we had no cushion in the cup, then the egg would break.  

Discuss how momentum played a major role in this project.
Momentum = mass times velocity. The higher the drop the more momentum there will be because the velocity of the egg increases.  As the momentum increases there is a greater chance that the egg will break on impact. As momentum increases the importance of having a good cushion increases.

8. Describe the forces acting upon your egg from the time it was in your hand to the time its drop was complete.

Gravity force and friction. Gravity pulls the egg towards the ground. Friction creates a resistance from the hand and from the air. Once the egg leaves my hand the gravitational force forwards it to the cup. When the egg hits the cup the cup returns the force as the egg hits it. This is the force of impact.

Make TWO connections between the egg drop project and concepts from Chapter 2 of the science textbook.  Be creative and think with depth.

1.) Unbalanced forces; can cause an object to stop moving. The cup provides an unbalanced force that acts on the falling egg that results in a net force that causes the egg to stop moving.  
2.) We learned about the force of gravity, gravity is a force that pulls objects towards each other. The ground (Earth) pulls the egg towards it. Since the Earth has a large mass it pulls the smaller mass of the egg towards it.