Experiment - Egg Motion

Learning Law of Motion with an Egg

A Spinning Eggsperiment

Materials Needed:

2 eggs: 1 hard boiled, 1 raw

Procedure:

Spin the two eggs and then gently stop them with a finger.

Observation

What happens when you stop the eggs?

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EXPLANATION

I took a whole hard boiled egg and a whole raw egg (with the shell), and told the kids that I was going to show them something interesting with the two eggs. You can also have it ready from before then ask the kids which one is boiled which one is not? They might guess it right but there is no way to be sure. So what do you do?

Spin the Eggs. 

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I told my Lil Muallims to pay close attention to the eggs and to notice which spins well and which one spins slow. While the eggs were spinning I tough them gently with a finger to stop them, and then quickly moved away my finger. They were surprised to see what they saw.


(I couldn't get a picture of the eggs spinning... they lookes so nice!!)

What Happened?

One egg stopped while the other kept spinning slowly for a few more seconds. 

Why?

I asked the Lil Muallims why?


I could see deep thinking on their faces.


Then I asked then what happens when we are all driving in a car and baba has to push the breaks suddenly?


Lil Muallims in unison: "We move forward?"


Me: "Why? That's a little physics for you here. That's because even though your are sitting still you are supposed to be moving in the same direction and in same motion as the thing you are travelling in. So even when baba hits the breaks and the car stops, because you were moving with the car, you first bend forward..... proving you motion.


So why do you think the egg is still moving?"


Lil Maullim thinking: "Probably because the liquid inside the egg was still moving"

Alhumdolillah! Great Answer Mashallah!

The following explanation from Steve Spangler's web site explains it simply

Hardboiled or Raw?
"Can't remember which egg is which? The answer is only a spin away. Simply spin the egg and pay close attention to how well it spins. If the egg spins well, it's hardboiled. However, if the egg wobbles and spins slowly, it's raw. A hardboiled egg is solid inside whereas a raw egg is fluid. When you spin the raw egg, its center of gravity changes as the fluid inside the egg moves around. This results in the wobbling motion you noticed in the raw egg. As soon as the raw egg starts spinning, touch it briefly with your finger just long enough to stop it. When you take your finger away, the egg will continue to spin for just a quick second. This is due to the inertia of the fluid inside the egg. When the hardboiled egg is spun, the solid center immediately moves with the shell, causing little resistance to the spinning motion."

What we learnt ?

.To tell which egg is boiled which one isn't simply test them for inertia.

What is Inertia

Simply put Inertia is: 

"An object in an object at rest  remains at rest and an object in motion remains in motion, till an outside force is applied to it"

This is Newton's first law of motion

If you want to study this concept in more detail......


 To study Laws of Motion visit our Lil Muallim Blog