Egg drop help please

[bonkers325]

attach egg to RC helicopter.

/thread

 

[slayer202]

i like it. what are the "feet" there? i dont really see a cone in that picture lol

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: slayer202
i like it. what are the "feet" there? i dont really see a cone in that picture lol

The feet I had.. The cone is mainly covered by the wing there, but you can see a few popsicle sticks sticking out from the middle of the cone. Those were the feet. My wings were almost long enough so that it could just use teh wing as a "foot" but the wings are a lot more flimsy..

Isn't there a weight limit also? Ithink ours had to be under 100g.

I'd probably make a lot of changes to my cone. IT was too hard and it didn't crumple as much. Softer materials maybe, iono.

 

[SVT Cobra]

Hmm now that the teacher said the baseball bat thing, I am thinking that there is a way where you do not have to alter the egg at all, I am thinking its surroundings (meaning not the egg or the packaging its in, just the air etc). Everyone in here is not thinking outside the box, which is exactly why the teacher is doing this.

What happens when you deep freeze and egg or put an egg under high atmospheric conditions?

 

[slayer202]

i dont think there is a weight limit, and why do you WANT it to crumple?

 

[AmericasTeam]

Originally posted by: slayer202
For physics, my girlfriend needs to make something that can help an egg survive a drop out of a window. No "cushioning" allowed, so no pillows or bubble wrap, no parachutes, no water.

give me some ideas

No cushioning? I thought you could use cushioning, just not commercial stuff, like bubble wrap or fiberglass insulation. Rules must change between classes.

GF's kid's class had a similar project. My idea was big bag of cheese puffs. Use spray adhesive to keep a layer on the sides on the bag. Center the egg in the remaining puffs.
He didn't try my idea. He went the rubberband suspended in a box idea. It broke.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: slayer202
i dont think there is a weight limit, and why do you WANT it to crumple?

Well the basic idea is this..

Momentum P = m * v. Linear momentum = mass * velocity = Force * time of contact.

Assume everything falls at same speed (ignore air resistance), and so whatever shape you drop will have the same momentum. Well, if your object is very rigid, it will smack the ground, and time of contact will be VERY LITTLE.

F * delta T = mv = constant. If delta T is small, F will be ginormous. If you have it crumple, the force will act on it for a long time, but the force itself will be a lot less. This is exactly why cars are made to crumple and we have crumple bars so we don't die in accidents. Otherwise, the g-force you would feel would probably kill you, and the shock would fvck a lot of things up.

Same idea here. You allow a crumple zone so the actual force upwards on the egg is a lot less even though it acts for a longer time.


Edit: about the cone idea, I can swear among the 4 physics classes that did it, at least 100 people out of the 120 had cones. It's probably easiest, surefire way to get your egg saved.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: slayer202
i dont think there is a weight limit, and why do you WANT it to crumple?

Crumpling absorbs energy. Ever been involved in a car crash?

 

[Toastedlightly]

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: slayer202

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: Excelsior
I agree with everyone else, suspend it.

That isn't cushioning exactly (pillow, etc). Fvck, if you can't suspend it, then what COULD you do?

Geez havent you guys done this in your HS physics classes before? We had to. You don't need to suspend it. You just need a cone, and you're done. Make sure there's stuff sticking out That way the cone wont topple over when it falls down.

can you explain more?

http://home.comcast.net/~ehfield7/eggdrop.gif

That's from my own egg drop lab... I meant you might wanna have stuff sticking out from the sides of hte cone, but if your wings are big enough, once it hits the ground, it will lie on the wings... you don't want your egg to roll out...., so you want your cone standing somewhat still


Edit: http://home.comcast.net/~ehfield7/eggdrop2.jpg I apologize its so bad because this was so long ago when I didnt even have a digicam =P Well I did, and it took pics at 640x480, and it looks worse than my camera phone today =P

Edit 2: Wings are essential. Your cone will fip over otherwise. You need to make your wings with ABSOLUTE precision and test them really well. Someone bumped into my egg drop and almost broke it minutes before my test. What happened? The thing kinda made a helical spiral downard and was tilted like mad. Basically it landed on the cone but at an angle, and almost basically landed on the wing.....

Or you can just make hte cone big enough that its size acts as wings keeping in the right direaction (way I did it, we have 4 sheet of paper, 12 inches of tape and some straws).

 

[Dubb]

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Negative.

Here's what you want.

1) Cone. Put the egg in a cone. Maybe put it on supports or something, but in general you want the cone to COLLAPSE. You don't need it to be STRONG, you want it to crumple, but you dont want it weak either.

2) Wings. Make your cone SPIN, but also slow it down without using a parachute.

Done.

that's pretty much what I always did. all the force of impact goes into crumpling the cone.

one year I even rigged it so that after crashing, the egg would pop out and roll away from the scene of the crash unharmed.

it was cool.

 

[slayer202]

oh ok i see. duh. well ill try to convince her to do the cone, but she is damn set on wood so that it can survive a baseball bat. i dont know how she is gonna do it, but if she wants the thing to crack, what do i care

 

[BCYL]

We did this exact same project back in high school... I use big tin cans, and built a shell (like a mini-barrel), then suspended the egg inside with rubber bands (I dont think that counts as cushioning)...

After like 10 throws, my egg still survived...

Pretty sure it would survive a bat too (the tins cans would absorb the impact)...

 

[dquan97]

Winner of my HS physics egg drop contest used cement powder to cushion the egg.

 

[imported_LoKe]

Originally posted by: dquan97
Winner of my HS physics egg drop contest used cement powder to cushion the egg.

FTL.

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: Excelsior
I agree with everyone else, suspend it.

That isn't cushioning exactly (pillow, etc). Fvck, if you can't suspend it, then what COULD you do?

Geez havent you guys done this in your HS physics classes before? We had to. You don't need to suspend it. You just need a cone, and you're done. Make sure there's stuff sticking out That way the cone wont topple over when it falls down.

No, but my sister had do it in one of her college classes. Sure you don't have to suspend it, but worked for her. However, she did it in a different way than most people here have suggested.

She made a cube out of balsa wood (no sides, just edges) and attached a peice of pantyhose to the top and to the bottom, but she did it in a way so that the egg could be held between the two.

It worked IIRC. She still has it.

 

[Skunkwourk]

I got second place, I made a small box, slightly larder than a rubiks cube, out of poster board and placed the egg inside with cotton. THe winner suspended the egg in side a box, and 3rd place had an egg in a container with all these balloons outside... I know mine is inelgible, but maybe you can get more ideas from it.

 

[imported_LoKe]

I'm tempted to try some of these for the sheer hilarity of breaking all my eggs.

 

[Reel]

Put the egg inside a helium balloon. It doesn't have to be cushioned inside just inside however you fit it in. Then when you release it, it will not hit the ground and crack. Instead it will float away and your goal will be achieved.

 

[imported_LoKe]

Originally posted by: Reel
Put the egg inside a helium balloon. It doesn't have to be cushioned inside just inside however you fit it in. Then when you release it, it will not hit the ground and crack. Instead it will float away and your goal will be achieved.

Technically you're not dropping the egg.

 

[RCN]

Cones FTW

 

[newParadigm]

Originally posted by: slayer202
For physics, my girlfriend needs to make something that can help an egg survive a drop out of a window. No "cushioning" allowed, so no pillows or bubble wrap, no parachutes, no water.

give me some ideas

get a smal cubic box. cut tho top flaps off, and put holes in bot sides in the center. Then take a panty hoe, cut it down to about two feet long, and put the egg inside it. Next, twist it so the egg cant move side to side. Finally put the pantyhoes with egg part in the box, and pull hte ends of panty hoes thru the holes in the sides of the box and tie it so that the its tight, but not so tight that it break the egg.

Didn't see the post about this already. This shoudl survie baseball bat hit too...

 

[newParadigm]

Originally posted by: slayer202
ya so far the suspension is the best i can think of. wonder if theres an easier way. i think just taping the egg onto a big piece of cardboard would make it drop pretty damn slow

Unless it turned sideways. A big bottom sheet might work as a descent parachute.

 

[newParadigm]

Originally posted by: iluvtruenos
Cube will topple one way or another. Triangular pyramid. Strongest geometric figure EVAR!

Just suspend the egg inside it with rubber bands stretching from each vertex.

That never works because the structure breaks and the band pull the egg apart. Tho i understand your point about using a triangular box...

 

[Kenazo]

Originally posted by: LoKe

Originally posted by: Reel
Put the egg inside a helium balloon. It doesn't have to be cushioned inside just inside however you fit it in. Then when you release it, it will not hit the ground and crack. Instead it will float away and your goal will be achieved.

Technically you're not dropping the egg.

You are releasing it from the same height though.

 

[slayer202]

Originally posted by: Kenazo
You are releasing it from the same height though.

but its not called egg release.