Egg Drop Eggstravaganza
By Armando A.

Have you ever wondered why it doesn't hurt when you jump from a large height onto a trampoline? It is because the trampoline's elastic mat is able to increase your time of impact and decrease the force exerted on you. The egg drop eggtravaganza is an experiment done every year in Mrs. Peck’s physics class. It is done to show students the relationship between the time of impact and the force exerted on an object, when dealing with an impulse. It is also used to show that any object in motion has both momentum and an impulse.
My Egg Case
Description of Egg Case

My egg case was a tissue box with a layer of bubble wrap on the bottom. I then added a layer of towels and put the egg on top. On top of the egg I added another towel and some tissue paper. To keep things from falling out I sealed the top with duct tape. My box weighed .234 kilograms or half a pound.
What is momentum?
Why did the egg cases have approximately the same change in momentum when they hit the ground?

Momentum is moving mass. The more momentum an object has the harder it is to stop. Momentum = Mass X Velocity

The egg cases had approximately the same change in momentum when they hit the ground because they have the same weight, and are dropped from the same height, and since gravity is a constant force, they have the same velocity. Meaning that they have the same momentum and change in momentum.
What is impulse?
Why did all the egg cases have approximately the same impulse?

Impulse causes any change in momentum. Anything with momentum has an impulse.

All the egg cases have the same impulse because they all have the same mass and velocity, giving them the same momentum and impulse.
Photo of class dropping cases
If all the egg cases had the same impulse, what varied in each egg case?
The force of impact varied because of the stuff inside which was used to increase the time of impact and decrease the force exerted on the egg.
My Egg did not break!
My egg did not break because the materials I put inside my egg case was successful in increasing the time of impact thus decreasing the force exerted on the egg inside.
Reflect on your scientist as a scientist or engineer would. How could you improve your design? What new design or materials would you try in the future?

Although my design was successful in completing the task of keeping the egg case from breaking, there are some ways to improve this experiment. First, I would like to try this experiment from a taller height to test how important velocity is in momentum. Second, I would like to try a box with a larger mass.
A boxer is taught to ride with the punch thus increasing the time of impact and therefore decreasing the force on his face.
If you are jumping from a cliff you would want to bend your knees to increase the time of impa ct and decrease the force on your legs.
The rubber and gels found in the soles of shoes are used to increase the time of impact and to decrease the force on your feet.
In soccer, the cushioning in the shin guards is used to increase the time of impact and decrease the force of impact exerted on the player’s leg.
In soccer, a player is instructed to follow through on any shot they might take. To follow through a plyer swings his leg through the ball and continues the motion after the ball has left his or her foot. This motion increases the time that the ball and foot are together also increasing the force exerted on the ball, and in turn the distance.

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