An Egg-Cellent Eggs-periment from Pow!Science!

An Egg-cellent Eggs-periment

Objective: To make an egg float in water and explore the concept of density

Materials: Beaker or other container (a cup works just fine) Water Salt Egg Spoon

Procedure:
1) Fill the beaker with 250 ml of water (fill your cup about 3/4).

2) PREDICT: What will happen when you carefully drop the egg into the water? Will it sink or float?

3) Carefully drop the egg into the water. What happens? Was your prediction correct?

4) Remove the egg. Add 2 spoons of salt to the beaker.

5) GENTLY stir with the regular spoon to help dissolve the salt. Gently replace the egg.

Does the egg float? If yes, congratulations! If no, repeat steps 4 & 5 until the egg floats.

What’s Going On? As the salt dissolves in the water, the water’s density increases. At first, the egg is more dense than the water, so the egg sinks. Adding salt makes the water more and more dense. When the water finally becomes more dense than the egg, the egg floats!

Think and Talk About This!
•What other substances could you dissolve in water to increase its density and float the egg? Get mom or dad’s permission and try it out!
•Do brown eggs have a different density than white eggs? Design and perform an experiment to find out!

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