SRT Egg Drop Experiment

Abstract:

Falling objects are subject to gravity, which causes them to accelerate. Gravity exerts the same
acceleration on all falling objects (9.8m/s2), however air resistance varies depending on the shape of
the object. This experiment aimed to determine what parachute design was the best at making an
egg land safely (without breaking or causing the egg damage) after being dropped from a height of
13 meters. Secondary outcomes of interest were the accuracy of the landing (proximity to target)
and speed of descent. We tested the design with three separate attempts. The parachute design was
mostly a success with attempt 1 and 2 providing the egg with a safe landing. On the third attempt,
the egg broke due to environmental factors. There was an inverse relationship between velocity and
accuracy. Future experiments are required to support or refute these results.

Aim:

The aim of this experiment is to determine what parachute design was the best at making an egg
land safely in quickest time possible from being dropped off the 2nd floor of a building (_m).

Hypothesis:

If I drop our parachute design, then I believe it will land safely with the egg not cracked at a fast
time, because the weight of the parachute will make it fall fast, the baking paper around the egg will
make it not break, and the round cardboard at the bottom will make it land straight.

Results:

The time it took for both eggs to drop from 5m.

Hight/Low Attempts Distance dropped Time, it took Did the egg break? Distance from
drop from (metres) (Seconds) landing target
(metres)
High drop Attempt 1 13 3.21 no 3.2
High drop Attempt 2 13 2.14 no 5.4
High drop Attempt 3 13 2.24 yes 4.3
Low drop Attempt 1 2 0.56 no 0.2
Low drop Attempt 2 3 0.86 no 0.4
Low drop Attempt 3 3 0.83 no 0.43.

Discussion:

The parachute design was mostly a success. The egg did not break in the first two (of three)
attempts. Attempt 1 was most accurate in terms of landing closest to target, likely because it was
the slowest and most controlled descent. The quickest descent was seen in attempt 2. We were
unable to identify a reason for the differences in average velocity between the attempts but noted
that there was an inverse relationship between velocity and accuracy to target. This outcome could
have occurred for many reasons such as bad dropping angles, weather and environmental
interference. For example, on the third attempt the parachute struck a tree.

The parachute provided protection to the egg by slowing the fall (air resistance, Newtons second
law). The structure also spread the force of the impact over a larger area with the parachute and the
cardboard at the bottom of the cup, thereby reducing the pressure of the impact, which would
ordinarily cause the egg to break. Newtons second law supports this as it states how the velocity of
an object changes when it is subjected to an external force. This means that the velocity/speed of an
object will changes when a force is applied against it, such as gravity, wind, anything that is applying
force against that egg. The reason why a parachute effects the velocity of the egg to slow its fall and
protect it is because the parachute expands out applying the force of air against it slowing it down.
Therefore, due to the fact that the egg with be tied on to the parachute the egg will also slow down
creating less fall force. (Classroom T. P., 2017) (Hall, 2015) (Second Law of Motion , n.d.) (Lucas,
2014)

There were two parachute designs that were meant to be compared. However, these parachute
designs were not serviceable. Therefore, an alter to one of the designs to make it creatable. There
were faults in our final parachute. This is as we used bendable wire instead of string, which we
believe negatively affected our parachutes gliding ability. This is because the wire does not really
bend to the shape you want it to so when we attached the wire from the parachute to the cup (egg
container) it was bent making the parachute unbalanced. Newtons third law states For every
action, there is an equal or opposite re-action. As the parachute was cantered and not flat/even,
the re-action was that the structure glided down on an angle taking it further away from the landing
target.

Therefore, in future experiments, I would drop the egg into a clear area and use string instead of
bendable wire. I believe this would have improved the balance of the parachute and would have
made it land straight. A control experiment without a parachute and basket would also help prove
the parachute provided is beneficial by slowing the fall and protecting the egg.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, this experiment demonstrated that factors affecting a falling object can be
manipulated, and that there are many factors that make a parachute flight worthy. A parachute and
basket can allow an egg to be safely dropped from a height. This experiment was hindered by the
environmental interference and by experimental and material limitations, not least the lack of a
control group. Accordingly, a future experiment is necessary to support or refute the results
obtained in this experiment.

Bibliography
Classroom, T. P. (2017). Newton's Laws - Lesson 3 - Newton's Second Law of Motion. Retrieved from
the Physics Classroom: http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/newtlaws/Lesson-
3/Newton-s-Second-Law

Classroom, T. P. (n.d.). Newton's Laws - Lesson 3 - Newton's Second Law of Motion. Retrieved from
the Physics Classroom.
Hall, N. (2015, May 5). Newton's Laws of Motion . Retrieved from NASA:
https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/newton.html

Lucas, J. (2014, June 26). Newton's Laws of Motion . Retrieved from LIVESCIENCE:
https://www.livescience.com/46558-laws-of-motion.html

Second Law of Motion . (n.d.). Retrieved from Newton's Laws of Motion :

http://teachertech.rice.edu/Participants/louviere/Newton/law2.html