Why does a real egg break and a plastic egg dont when it falls from same height? What about the gravity?

Question

Why does a real egg break and a plastic egg dont when it falls from same height? What about the gravity?

Answer 1

It's not about strength, it's about the hardness and brittleness. Generally materials that are harder are more brittle, and since eggshells are quite hard, they are also quite brittle.

Hardness is the ability to resist deformation when a force is applied.

A brittle material is liable to shatter or fracture when it is subjected to stress, and it will not deform much before this happens.

Therefore since (thermoplastic) plastics are generally not very hard, and can deform quite significantly, they will survive a fall. Eggs will survive a fall up to a certain height, but beyond that the deformation will become too great and the shell will fracture.

Thermosetting plastics will behave differently as they can be very hard and relatively brittle.

Answer 2

Erm because it's plastic,doh!!!!!.

Answer 3

A real egg has more mass, so it picks up more momentum, or starts with more potential energy, any way you want to think of it.  

When I worked at a hospital, we had these blue tubes that we would fill with blood, and if you dropped a blue tube with blood in it it would shatter, but if it was empty it wouldn't.  

However, I do think there is some truth to what other people are saying, an eggshell is calcium carbonate, which although an eggshell is very strong, a sudden force can shift the ions causing it to rupture.  Try putting a weight in a plastic egg (or a real egg in the plastic egg), then drop it and see if the plastic holds up.  That would also eliminate the affects of air resistance.  

Gravity is the same acceleration for each, but more force on the heavier object, the real egg.  So without air resistance they would fall the same speed, with air resistance, the real egg would go slightly faster dropping it from a small height.

Answer 4

The gravity's the same for both of them.  It's all about strength.  If you hit them both with the back of a table knife, the egg would break but the plastic one wouldn't.

Answer 5

The same reason that a person dies then thrown off a ten story building, but if a plastic person will not die if thrown off the same building.

Answer 6

Gravity is the same for both but the material is different so the real one breaks and the plastic one does not.Simple!

Answer 7

Plastic can absorb the force of impact much better than egg shell. The actual word "plastic" means that it's plastic and will bend when under pressure.

Answer 8

It's not entirely about strength, a plastic egg is filled with air - air can be compressed, meaning it absorbs the shock well. A real egg is filled with what is essentially water - liquids cannot be compressed, meaning it doesn't absorb the shock as well - although if you drained an egg and dropped it it would still probably break because the shell is so brittle; however, it probably wouldn't be nearly so explosive.

Answer 9

cause its made out of different things

Answer 10

Your real egg falls. It is filled inside and the shell is brittle. It does not have any give, no bounce, no ability to compress and spring back. It smashes.

The plastic egg really is just a plastic shell. The plastic has give in it, it can be hit without collapsing the shell when it drops on the floor. The shock of impact is absorbed by the shell and, according to physics, for every reaction there is a similar and opposite reaction. The shell absorbs energy from the impact and releases it simultaneously, making the ball fly up into the air, or bounce. If you could completely fill it with a liquid, I don't think your plastic egg would be very keen on bouncing at all. The shock would be completely absorbed by the liquid without releasing it. But the fall would have to be from a greater height to gain momentum to smash the plastic.

Answer 11

Different fragility factor. Besides, a real egg has liquid inside, which gives inertia momentum to the egg in the point of contact with the ground.

Answer 12

Because the shell of the egg is more fragile than that of a plastic egg....if you made a plastic egg which was a fragile as a normal egg, then it would break.....

Answer 13

Because plastic is stronger than egg shell.  Is this a joke?

Answer 14

Beacuse plastic is obviously stronger than a real egg shel!! common sense!

Answer 15

What the h**l is a plastic egg?

Answer 16

i think the plastic egg is lighter so it is more affected by the air,it has more bouncable(i'm pretty sure that is NOT what it is called) qualities, no life,...,

i have alot of doubt about what is considered true of gravity.

i've been told it is weak because a magnet can lift a paper clip, yet the foundation the magnet the roof,..., are all under gravity' effect.  seems there could be many other things taking place, maybe the reflecting solar winds are affecting the magnets charge? do magnet work the same in deep space?

just in case you are in school, put the answer from the book that is where they generally get the the test. i am sort of proextinction(glad the sabertooths are gone, hope the crocs follow, and think humans have not had much affect on extinction other than increasing populations of species that they should not) and don't want tigers in my back yard and don't expect others to have to have them. yet i got the highest possible score in ecology, because i gave them the answer they wanted.