6 Meter Egg Drop. HELP!

[Amelia]

so heres the deal, i have a project due friday. eek, where i have two eggs, in a device no larger than 10 cm by 10cm, i can use anything but food products, and have to drop it 6 meters down, both have to survive... no cracks.

i want to increase the time of impact as much as possible, and increase the SA that hits the ground, it also has to be over 1/2 lb in weight, any ideas?!!!?

[Amelia]

so heres the deal, i have a project due friday. eek, where i have two eggs, in a device no larger than 10 cm by 10cm, i can use anything but food products, and have to drop it 6 meters down, both have to survive... no cracks.

i want to increase the time of impact as much as possible, and increase the SA that hits the ground, it also has to be over 1/2 lb in weight, any ideas?!!!?

 

"If you're not confused, you're not paying attention." - Tom Peters

[swansont]

I'd think you want the eggs adjacent, rather than stacked, in something that will collapse slowly. Packing peanuts or a sowly-deflating airbag or something. Make the case more massive to meet the weight limit. Any rules against deploying a parachute during the drop?

[Amelia]

you cant have anything that would create a drag

you can have stablizers i think, but thats pretty much it

[Sisyphus]

Any rules against deploying a parachute during the drop?

 

Seems like the rules would make that impossible. A 10cm parachute won't slow down a half pound weight much, will it? Maybe a vertical series of a few of them would have a worthwhile effect?

[Amelia]

its so frustrating, but i know its possible to do it, because people have made some in the past that are close to 5 cm by 5 cm, still 1/2 lb! its insane

[Amelia]

i was going to try paper mache with a cork lining, it will be like a car, a crumple zone. id fill it with cotton or some cushion, and maybe seatbelt the eggs?

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Cork won't crumple much.

 

Seatbelting the eggs would probably do the trick. Just make sure they're evenly supported on all sides and surrounded by something soft. Make sure there's nothing pointy to break them.

[Amelia]

any ideas?

[Amelia]

sounds good

rubber bands for seatbelts maybe?

[Amelia]

i was thinking pieces of cork, not like a whole sheet. that way it will still crumple with the paper mache, but it will be heavier...

[Heimo]

Packaging peanuts sound pretty good- Maybe you could include one of those balloons that inflate into a sausage- kind of like an airbag to wrap around as a cushion.

[Amelia]

sounds good too. thanks

[Phi for All]

Oh, you started a thread, good. I'd go with bubble wrap for protection, duct tape for weight. Most teachers give extra credit for duct tape. I know I would.

[Amelia]

haha okay, ill use duck tape

but the problem is i cant use bubble wrap

[Phi for All]

Bubble wrap not allowed? I'd go with two condoms, inflated with an egg in each, with custom cardboard boxes and cardboard shims around and between each. Duct tape the cardboard.

[Amelia]

ill try, i doubt ill be able to make it 10 by 10, but thank you!

ill let you know how it goes.

off to work. blah... lol

[Amelia]

wait.

what about cotton

not a good shock absorber?

[Amelia]

ehh, ill try stuff and get back to you.

[Rocket Man]

ah, the elegance of the mars lander style... just get a bunch of water bombs, inflated with air taped to the bottom of the box and a stabiliser on top.

(worked for 2m)

 

fill the box with water and give it a reasonable pressure rating. that way, the shock from touchdown is transferred all over the egg as a uniform pressure. also, the low difference between the density of water and egg means the egg won't want to travel much on impact. you'll just need to suspend the egg in the centre (a porous sponge taped to the bottom and walls would do. just make sure the eggs can't touch, EVER)

you can experiment with salt water to boost the bouyancy of the egg in the lander to further reduce travel on impact.

 

cotton wool is a reasonable dampener, but it won't give you the uniform pressure required for a solid landing from a 6m drop.

[Externet]

S p o n g e .

½ pound of sponge wrapping the eggs is enough cushioning.

Miguel

[YT2095]

encapsulate both eggs in epoxy resin.

[swansont]

If you look at things from a collision standpoint, you want whatever the egg hits to be less massive, so that the egg wants to continue forward, but with a smaller speed, and then engage in the next collision.

 

Or anything that looks like a weak spring, like the rubber-band-seatbelt idea. Just make sure it has maximal length of travel.

[Ndi]

I'm with YT on this one, you said nothing about recovering the eggs, just no breaking them. Encase in tough, transparent material (so you can see them not broken).

 

I thought about filling them with something tough but then it's arguably not an egg any more. It's also slightly larger than the egg itself. Aside from that, I'd go for water cushion.

 

At 6 meters and 10x10cm the speed is too great for any cushioning, IMO. The egg is already some 5 cm (you don't want it on the side, you need the top-bottom arch strength), so it gives you under 5 cm to stop an egg doing something quite a few km/h.

 

I'm not doing the math, a guesstimate doesn't look good on the stopping distance, especially if you take an initial shock into account. IMO it's a trick question, thinking outside the box is the point, since the drop is too big for an egg with no parachute. You can use all the sponge and bubble wrap, the walls will crack with acceleration. Strengthening the egg is the way to go.

[insane_alien]

get a water tight box,

put in some foam supports to hold the egg in the middle,

fill to the top with water,

put a lid on and bombs away.

i've seen it work at 4 meters so 6 should be feasible. you might want to test it out first.