McClory 1

Alex McClory

Mrs. Stevens

Physical Science

12 December 2018

What Model of Straw Will Protect an Egg the Best

One day My mother was cooking with eggs and one egg rolled off the table and broke. I

saw that it knocked over some straws and landed on them. That made me think if I could protect

an egg from falling with some straws. So I came with three different models of straws and

conducted experiments to see which one is the best. I thought ​if I drop sticking out pointing

towards egg model, Sticking out not pointing towards egg model and egg box model, then the

Sticking out not pointing towards egg model will not break.

What Is the Difference Between Kinetic Energy And Potential Energy?

Kinetic energy is an object that contains energy because it is moving or in motion.

Potential energy is stored energy because of where it is at. Formula for kinetic energy is

mv^2(squared) m = mass and v = speed.This formula means if two things are moving at the same

speed and one has more mass than the other it has more kinetic energy. The formula for Potential

energy is mgh m=mass g=gravity h=height. This means that an object can be at a certain place

and the same object could be in a different set position and if that object is in mid air it is falling

because of gravity, g and the height, h and mass, m plays a part in how much potential energy it

has (S).

How Does Gravity Work And Does It Affect All Objects the Same Way?

Every mass exerts a gravitational pull. The bigger the mass the greater gravitational pull.
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Big masses exert bigger forces on other masses that are greater. Planets are giant so they exert

massive amounts of pull. The moon passes over the earth pulling the waves of the ocean towards

it. When an object falls earth's gravitational force accelerates the object. The object is constantly

pulled to the earth so it gains speed. It affects all objects the same because it accelerates all

objects at the same speed no matter the mass (Forces).

What Is Air Resistance And How Does It Affect Falling Objects?

The object falling is hitting air molecules which slow it down. The amount of air

resistance depends on a lot of different factors. The two simple ones are speed and how much air

particles is hitting it. Those two factors slow the object from falling fast (Free). Air resistance

affects falling objects like friction because the air molecules rub and hit against the object

slowing it down.Speed also makes the object slow down because more air particles are hitting

against the object more often (Stuart).

How Do You Increase the Amount of Energy an Object Can Absorb?

By using cushioning your expanding the time the object takes to hit the ground. In the

article it says airbags increase the time before you hit the car. Airbags are bags of air that release

air slowly. Airbags are deployed once the car collides with another thing. The straws that protect

the egg will do the same thing. The straws make it so the egg takes longer to stop (how).

How Should Straws be Placed in Order for the Egg Not to Break?

Make structure touching egg. Make structure outside not touching egg. Tape straws

pointing outward. Pointing outward straws cushion landing. If egg only have one little structure

then it break. More straws pointing outward the more it will be cushioned (slinkard).

What Is Terminal Velocity And Will the Egg Reach Terminal Velocity?
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No egg will not reach terminal velocity. Terminal Velocity is speed achieved from

falling. It is the fastest speed you can go falling. The egg is not dropped high enough to reach

Terminal Velocity. Object is accelerated through from falling. Object cannot fall any faster than

the speed of it (Britannica).

I thought that if I drop the sticking out pointing towards egg, Sticking out not pointing

towards egg and egg box straw models, then the Sticking out not pointing towards egg straw

model will not be breaking the egg at all, and I found out that my hypothesis was correct. All of

the sticking out pointing towards egg straw models broke when dropped, but only two of the

Sticking out not pointing towards egg model and egg box egg model broke and the other two

survive. The average of the Sticking out not pointing towards egg not breaking is 2.
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Works Cited

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Terminal Velocity.” Encyclopædia Britannica,

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 27 July 2018,

www.britannica.com/science/terminal-velocity.

“Forces of Attraction.” Physics4Kids.Com: Motion: Introduction, Andrew Rader Studios, 2015,

www.physics4kids.com/files/motion_gravity.htm

“Free Fall and Air Resistance.” The Physics Classroom, The Physics Classroom, 2018,

www.physicsclassroom.com/class/newtlaws/Lesson-3/Free-Fall-and-Air-Resistance

“How Do Airbags Work?” Explain That Stuff, Chris Woodford, 29 June 2018,

www.explainthatstuff.com/airbags.html.

S, Surbhi. “Difference Between Kinetic Energy and Potential Energy (with Comparison Chart).”

Key Differences, Surbhi S, 30 Dec. 2017,

keydifferences.com/difference-between-kinetic-and-potential-energy.html.

Slinkard, Janis. “Science Fair Interview.” 16 Nov. 2018.

Stuart W. “How Does Air Resistance Affect the Motion of an Object? | Socratic.” Socratic.org,

2015, socratic.org/questions/how-does-air-resistance-affect-the-motion-of-an-object.