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Egg shell stacker

Instructions

1. Place the bottle caps in a square arrangement on a desk.

2. Place the eggs into the openings on the bottle caps. Make sure they are of even height.

3. Place the wooden board over the egg shells, making sure the egg shells are evenly spaced.

4. How much weight can you place on the board before the egg shells crack?
Try your own body weight - it might get messy!

5. Which end of the egg will support the most weight? Find out!

Back to force and movement experiments

You will need:

- 4 raw eggs and 4 deep bottle caps

- 1 wooden board or large book

- Measuring weights

Egg shells are very strong if they are compressed. The curved shape of the egg shell allows force to be spread horizontally and vertically throughout the shell

You can think of an egg shell as being like a 360 degree arched bridge.
Engineers have known about the strength of arches for thousands of years. They are very stable and allow building structures to support a lot of weight.

Find out how arched bridges and others work.

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