Egg Drop
Aim: To create a capsule that can decrease the speed of an egg when dropped, decrease the acceleration and increase the impact time in order to save the egg from breaking.

Materials/Equipment: • 4 balloons • 1 metre of string • 2 polystyrene cups • 1 plastic bag • 2 pieces of paper • Sticky tape • Scissors • Pencil • And of course the egg

Method (Original design): 1. Firstly, two balloons were blown to a desired size and tied. 2. Then, a polystyrene cup was placed upside down, and another polystyrene cup was stuck on top of it with sticky tape. 3. Afterward, two holes were created in the sides of the bottom cup, so that they were big enough to pull the tied ends of the balloons through it. 4. Next, the ends of the balloons were stuck to the edge of the cups using stick tape. 5. Furthermore, string was attached to the sticky tape, that held the balloons to the cup, which was connected to a plastic bag, that would act as a parachute in the design. 6. Finally, two pieces of paper were scrunched together and placed into the egg along with the egg.
Discussion of the features of the capsule and how they helped reduce the impact of the collision: The initial feature that helped the capsule reduce the impact of the collision was the plastic bag. The plastic bag was used as a parachute that helped reduce the impact time and increased the deceleration time. This is because; the plastic bag was full of air that was pushing it upwards. This idea can be related to Newton’s 3rd Law, that states “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction”, as the bag was pushing down on the air around it and the air pushed back onto the bag. The use of the plastic bag as a parachute can also be related to Newton’s 2nd Law, that states the formula F=ma. This is because, the force acting on the mass, the force being gravity and the mass being the capsule, affected the acceleration of how fast the capsule dropped. Therefore, the plastic bag slowed down the rate at which the capsule fell out. Another feature that helped reduce the impact of the collision was the scrunched up paper within the capsule that provided a cushion for the egg to rest on. This is because, the paper would take all the impact of the collision and the egg would remain safe. The final feature of the capsule that reduced the collision was the balloons attached to the sides of the cup. As they took an incredible amount of the impact as they were essentially the first things that came in contact with the ground during the collision. This can be related to Newton’s 1st Law, also known as the ‘Law of Inertia, as it states, “An object at rest will stay egg when dropped, decrease the acceleration and increase the impact time, in order to save the egg from breaking. During the tests conducted at home it was established that the original design did not fulfil the requirements of the aim, however the redesign of the capsule was successful.

Redesign: 1. Firstly, four balloons were blown to a desired size and tied. 2. Then, a polystyrene cup was placed upside down, and another polystyrene cup was stuck on top of