Creating a Successful Egg Lander: Tips and Tricks for Physics Class

[JuJu5511]

Hi, for physics class we have to build landers (designed to hold an egg). They have to be pretty light and able to keep the egg safe even when dropped on any side and by a height of 4 or so feet. The device has to withstand being dropped on a hard flat surface and also on a ramp (and not roll).

Any suggestions on material, shape, etc. would be very helpful! Thanks.

 

[The Bob]

Hi, for physics class we have to build landers (designed to hold an egg). They have to be pretty light and able to keep the egg safe even when dropped on any side and by a height of 4 or so feet. The device has to withstand being dropped on a hard flat surface and also on a ramp (and not roll).

Any suggestions on material, shape, etc. would be very helpful! Thanks.

Metal outside with a very firm yet soft inside. A bit like an armidillo (soft on the inside, crunchy on the outside...). Can you use a parachute?

It would be funny to have springs on it as well (on all sides).

Sorry. This post was a little rubbish.

The Bob (2004 ©)

 

[whozum]

Parachute is the best way to go. An egg will crack under the slightest of pressure.

 

[JuJu5511]

We can use parachutes, but they might not be all that helpful with only dropping it at a height of 4 ft.

 

[whozum]

If so then cushin (sp) that bad boy as much as you can.

 

[parksobong]

Our class just finished with this project. But we had to drop ours from 20 ft with a 2.5in x 2.5in x 2.5in carrier.

You can see my second design here, which worked: http://corea2k.com/blog/wp-images/tempur_design.jpg

(My first design used peanut butter as padding, but it wasn't balanced well so it fell on its side.)

One of our requirements was to have half of the egg exposed during the drop, so we couldn't cover the top.

We took a coke can, slit it and shortened the circumference. We stuck some metal pieces at the bottom to weigh it down. And then stuffed it, making a nest-like shape, using a block of tempurpedic sample. If this isn't due soon, you can order a sample off of Tempurpedic.com.

 

[kusal]

W built three egg landers in an egg lander competition and they were dropped off a five storied building they worked brilliantly none of the eggs were even cracked. And one of our landers worked ecxeptionally well even without a parachute.
Iwill send you the diagram of that lander.

it was a cone made of card board and inside at the bottom it had a baloon (not well blown). We covered the egg with sponges torn into little pieces.und filled the cone with them.And covered the top with a card board cone which is shortet and has a larger base pointing the same direction the narrow long one is pointing(not like an umbrella)

 

[kusal]

Sorry I didn’t see the four or five feet part!

The design I described earlier is used in extreme cases.
This is the most appropriate design for you purpose.

Build a tetragon frame with steel wires and build a smaller on with card board. Put the egg inside the cardboard tetragon and fill it with pieces of sponge(not tightly).Then insert the smaller tetragon into the larger wire frame and connect their corners with rubber bands(not tightly stretched).

 

[leon1127]

in my classs, one student put an egg in the whole turkey... and it won...

 

[minger]

in my classs, one student put an egg in the whole turkey... and it won...

Brilliant! Ours back in high school successfuly dropped from the 5th floor inside a college engineering building, hitting the tile floor below. Our design used a small piece of posterboard, an empty toilet paper roll, and a little cotton, and it may have weighed less than 100g (not 100% sure, it was some years back).