Purpose
What can best stop an egg from breaking while remaining as light as possible?
Background
Due to us recently learning about impulse and how bouncing doubles the momentum experienced by an object. Also, an impulse is the force multiplied by the time that it is applied so the longer the time, the less force in a given impulse.
Materials
Egg
Container - (Lunchbox)
Popcorn - Large bag
4 sandwich Ziploc bags
Extra cushioning device(s) - (a literal ‘handful’ of underwear)
Piece of paper*
Pencil*
*The last 2 are for writing results done or any other measurements to be used later
Procedures
Gather the materials to be used in the crafting of the egg container
Open the lunch box and lay the cushioning device on the bottom
Once done with
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This gives the time that elapsed before the lunchbox and its contents impacted the ground. Since it was initially at rest, the initial velocity is 0. Now knowing both the distance and time, we can find the change in both and divide them to find the average velocity. Since the velocity changes at a constant, uninterrupted rate the final velocity is the same as the average. Since the velocity is over a time other than one second, we need to divide it by the time elapsed again in order to find the acceleration. Impulse is the change in momentum so since it started at 0 momentum, the impulse is the final …show more content…
However, the combination of the bagged popcorn, underwear, and soft lunchbox itself helped to absorb enough of the impact that the egg went completely uninjured in any way. The bulkiness may have been a bit overboard, however. It is quite possible that the underwear was completely unnecessary while one, larger bag of popcorn covering the bottom may have just as well as the 4 smaller bags
Conclusion
The mission was a success. The egg survived the fall without a hitch. Originally, I planned to have a circular container, believing that the round bottom would allow it to better absorb the impact. However, I noticed that the round shape would cause to very often land awkwardly, causing the container to roll around and occasionally flip. This would put the egg at a greater risk, thus the idea was scrapped altogether. I then decide that a flat, but bendable surface would prove best. That by itself, though would not be enough. I would need to have contents inside the container as we to aid in soften the impulse force on the egg. However, the likeliness that the inside was overdone is relatively high, especially when my lunchbox is compared to other contraptions that others had built in a similar