I would like know about any physics projects that you have done in the past. I also have a question for you. It's called the 'Egg Drop'. What is the best possible way to drop an egg 17 feet without breaking it.

Stipulations:
1. 10x10x10 inches box or 41/8 x 41/18 inches
2. No foam or bubble wrap
3. No food.
4. Egg must be touching air on two oppisite sides of the box.
5. No completely covering of the egg with glue or any other substance.
6. No soaking the egg to harden the shell
7. No cooking the egg

One neat physics project we did in high school was to design a balloon-powered cart -- you blow up a balloon, place it on the cart's "engine" apparatus, and let 'er rip down the hallway. The trick is to make the cart as light as possible, and to make the elements of the chassis frame perpendicular to each other. The one my partner and I built won; we had a chassis built of balsa wood (which we'd filed away to its absolute thinnest), four LP records as wheels (scratched ones from our parents' collections; we also used a soldering iron to melt out most of the LPs' interior), a tiny section of PVC piping to attach the balloon to, lightweight aluminum rods (from any hardware store) as axles, and (our crowning innovation) a single piece of thread across the chassis, to prevent the balloon from drooping and force being wasted. This thing could travel about 40 meters on a single medium-sized balloon -- it rocked.

I've never done an egg drop with boxes, but that same year we successfully dropped two eggs three stories using only paper and masking tape to cushion it. Are you interested in that?

You bet I'm interested! Thanks CellarDoor and thank you for sharing your balloon project with us.

Here's one way to protect two eggs with only paper (ordinary copy paper) and masking tape:

Roll a piece of paper into a cylinder deep enough to fit the two eggs, one on top of the other. Make a bottom for it & attach with masking tape. Crumple up some pieces of paper for cushioning, so you pack the cylinder with a wad first, then an egg, then a wad, then an egg, then a wad. A single strip of masking tape across the top will keep everything in (we were supposed to keep the weight to a minimum). Then roll up little sheets of paper to tape to the sides of the cylinder, so that you have "bumpers" to cushion the eggs if the wind should slam them into the wall of the building on the way down.

The REAL trick, though, is to take two sheets of paper and tape them together, flat. Then attach them with 3-4 masking tape "cords" to the top of the cylinder. Voila! A parachute!

I believe our device weighed in at about 35-40 grams (without the eggs).

In the deep dark corners of my brain, I seem to remember that the best way to drop an egg and not crack it was to make a sort of harness with rubber bands, attach them to the corners of the box with staples --- sort of the original bungy jump

We didn't do may physics experiments where I went to school. Can't remember any actually. One thing I did do in Industrial arts was to make a bridge. It had to span about two feet and be able to support a suspended house brick for 60 seconds. The winner was awarded to the one with the lightest weight that survived the test. First place went to a bridge made from balsa in a lovely curve with a flat platform underneath and trusses in between. Second place went to a straight flat piece of aluminium. Ahhh, it brings back memories....it was over twenty years ago!

CellarDoor and Bigmiss, many thanks to the both of you for sharing your experiments and ideas. I find them most helpful and educational. I certainly admire how inventive you were in designing your projects. Please keep them coming folks.

A big warm welcome to FunTrivia Bigmiss. I'm so glad you have joined our trivia family. BTW, we didn't do may physics experiments where I went to school either, but that was thirty years ago. Ouch!! I'm getting old!

Thank you for the welcome JOJO. I hope that you get loads more physics ideas.