Physics · Unit 5: Momentum ·  Project 5-1-4

Egg Drop

Design a container that lets a raw egg survive a drop from height. The physics isn’t luck. It’s stretching out the time of the impact to shrink the force, and you’ll prove it with your own estimate  ·  3 class days

StarringF = Δp ÷ Δtd = mgH ÷ F
Unit 5: Momentum

🔁 Review the Concepts

This project builds on the three momentum activities, plus one idea from Unit 4. If you’re short on time, start with 5-1-2, then skim the others.

Activity 5-1-2
Impulse & the Impulse-Momentum Theorem
F·Δt = Δp, estimating a stop from its crush distance, and the egg preview. Start here.
Review activity →Deep dive →
Activity 5-1-1
Momentum — Mass in Motion
The egg’s momentum at impact, p = mv, is the change your container has to deliver.
Review activity →Deep dive →
Activity 5-1-3
Conservation of Momentum in One Dimension
Where the egg’s momentum goes, and the unit’s question about why a conserved quantity can still break an egg.
Review activity →Deep dive →
Activity 4-1-1
Work & the Work-Energy Theorem
F × d = ½mv². The same stop, counted over distance instead of time.
Review activity →Deep dive →

🧭 Plot Summary

Here is a puzzle. Momentum is always conserved, so the egg’s momentum has to go somewhere when it lands. Yet a bare egg breaks and a well-packed egg doesn’t, even though both arrive with exactly the same momentum and lose all of it. What’s different?

It’s how long the losing takes. The change in momentum is fixed by the egg’s mass and speed. Your container’s job is to spread that change over as much time, and as much distance, as it can. You’ll measure how hard different cushions push back, work out how much travel the egg needs, build a container, and write down whether it should survive before you drop it.

What you will do in this project

  • Test cushioning materials with a dummy egg and work out how hard each one pushes back when it’s crushed.
  • Calculate how much travel a cushion needs to keep the force on the egg below its limit.
  • Design and build a container within the size and mass limits, with no parachutes allowed.
  • Estimate the impact force and time, and write down whether your egg should survive, before you drop it.
  • Drop it, measure what really happened, and calculate how close your estimate was.

Why it matters

Helmets, car bumpers, packaging, and airbags are all egg containers at different scales. They work the same way, and engineers design them the same way: measure the material, calculate the travel, and predict before testing.

✅ Self-Check Before You Roll On

Check off each item as you get there. These are not grades — they are your own signal.