Upper School science teacher Luke D’Argenio kicked off his Physics Applications class with a classic project: the egg drop! Taking inspiration from the Stanford method, students were given a fictional budget of $20 to use to “purchase” supplies to build their egg drop vessel. A focus on iterating and a conscious consideration of physics principles was paramount to their designs.
In their first days of class, each section began to cover concepts like displacement, velocity, acceleration, graph interpretation and impulse. For this project specifically, the students discussed how they could increase drag to reduce the intensity of the device’s impact. Drag is essential for this project as it creates an opposing force as an object moves through space. Therefore, as the vessel falls, increased drag will slow the object and create a softer landing, thereby protecting the fragile egg.
Conducting the egg drop exemplifies how these theories and formulas work through a real-life example. To solidify each student’s grasp on this concept, Mr. D’Argenio employed engineering practices and required each pair of students to test and revise their designs rather than use their first idea.
Mr. D’Argenio prompted, “In this classic experiment, your goal is to build a structure that will prevent a raw egg from breaking when dropped from a significant height. You and your partner should think about creating a design that will reduce the amount of energy transferred from potential to kinetic energy on the egg shell. While brainstorming and designing, consider the principles of air resistance, time of collision, energy transfer, and any other physics principles you can come up with!” He also specified that they were not to use a parachute, must create a blueprint of their design to scale before building and should aim to keep the “volume and mass of the structure to a minimum.”
Students spent the next few class periods in The Hayot Center for Innovation (HCI) using the theories discussed in class as well as results from preliminary testing to inform their building process. A variety of vessels formed, each slightly different from their neighbors, in pursuit of the best egg protection. Some students gravitated towards paper cups as their central material. They used the other materials to insulate the egg, like partially inflated balloons or balled up tape. Others used straws or craft sticks as their main elements, some employing balloons to help create drag and maintain balance as their devices fell.
As each vessel came together, the students conducted test drops from atop a secured ladder to see what worked and what could be improved in their designs. During their initial tests, students returned to work undeterred with unbroken concentration. As they entered their final rounds, they were elated to discover that their designs had become secure and successful vessels.
Then it was time to head to Carl Schurz Park for their real tests. Arriving at their egg drop destination, the students took in the extended distance from the pedestrian bridge to the patio garden below, a vast contrast to their ladder test drops. A pair of students volunteered to send their egg over first and…it made the trip uncracked! Each student’s egg went unscathed in the first drop and Mr. D’Argenio declared it was time for round two. Some eggs whose devices shifted during the first drop did not make it for a third, but an impressive number of vessels squarely protected their eggs through three rounds of drops. By the end of class, a handful of student designs lasted six or more drops without even a hint of a crack.
This ever-popular Upper School physics project kept the students chattering happily on their walk back to 100 East End Avenue — some with unbeatable designs still fully intact!
