Hooked on Science: Thanksgiving egg drop

Looking for something to keep family and friends busy during Thanksgiving? All you need are a few items from around the house.

Materials

* Transparent drinking glass

* Water

* Egg

* Pie pan

* Toilet paper roll

Instructions

STEP 1: Fill the glass three-quarters of the way with water.

STEP 2: Place the pie pan on top of the transparent glass. Make sure the pie pan centered on the transparent glass.

STEP 3: Stand the toilet paper roll in the center of the pie pan.

STEP 4: Place the egg on the toilet paper roll.

STEP 5: Quickly hit the pie pan with enough sideways force so the pan and toilet paper roll fly out of the way. Do not hit the glass.

Explanation

As the pie pan and toilet paper roll fly in one direction, the egg resists this change, and gravity then pulls the egg into the glass of water. Inertia is the tendency of an object to resist change in motion. You can discover more hands-on experiments by going to www.hookedonscience.org.

Jason Lindsey is a Science Outreach Educator with Hooked on Science. Check out his website "Hooked On Science" at hookedonscience.org for webcasts and experiments that might get you hooked on science. Send him your science questions at jlindsey@hookedonscience.org. More science experiments can be found at www.semissourian.com