kalucki@charm.UUCP (John Kalucki) (11/01/85)
I have a small physics problem for all you net.physics.pudits out there. I have an assignment to drop a brick and an egg in a shoebox out of a two story window onto a sidewalk. The egg must not break (of course), and I can put whatever I want into the box. I have had several suggestions, most of which consist of surrounding the egg with some sort of rubbery substance, like jello or epoxy glue, unfortunatly a shoe box full of expensive glue is a bit above my budget, and jello would melt into water before I could get to class. HELP! Post to the net, or mail to me, I don't know these things. [=-------------------------------------------------------------------------=] [ -John Kalucki @ Physics Research @ Bell Labs, Murray Hill, NJ ] [ ...!ihnp4!charm!kalucki ^^^ ] [---------------------------------+ ^^^ ] [ You expect me to have the same | Its really Berkeley Hts., NJ, but ] [ opinions as a company that does | me? Complain? Never! (So, you thought ] [ know where its buildings are? | the transistor was invented in Murray ] [ ;-) ;-) ;-) )-; ;-( ;-) | Hill. Silly person!) ] [=--------------------------------+----------------------------------------=]
gwyn@brl-tgr.ARPA (Doug Gwyn <gwyn>) (11/03/85)
One of the racing shoe manufacturers (Nike, etc.) research departments came up with a wonderful rubbery substance that absorbs shock by redirecting it laterally. I saw this demonstrated on one of the TV talk shows a year or two ago. It looks like just the thing for your egg-dropping experiment (a parachute would help, too). Unfortunately I can't remember the name of the product or where to find it; perhaps someone else on the net knows.
peter@graffiti.UUCP (Peter da Silva) (11/04/85)
> I have a small physics problem for all you net.physics.pudits out > there. I have an assignment to drop a brick and an egg in a shoebox out > of a two story window onto a sidewalk. The egg must not break (of course), and ...you should do this on your own. This experiment is a classic, and you should be grateful that you have been assigned it. I wish I had had such an opportunity. -- Name: Peter da Silva Graphic: `-_-' UUCP: ...!shell!{graffiti,baylor}!peter IAEF: ...!kitty!baylor!peter
tim@ISM780B.UUCP (11/04/85)
/* Written 5:12 pm Oct 31, 1985 by kalucki@charm in ISM780B:net.physics */ I have a small physics problem for all you net.physics.pudits out there. I have an assignment to drop a brick and an egg in a shoebox out ^^^^^^^^^^ of a two story window onto a sidewalk. The egg must not break (of course), and . . . to class. HELP! Post to the net, or mail to me, I don't know these things. ^^^^^ /* End of text from ISM780B:net.physics */ Am I missing something, or are you requesting help in cheating on your homework? Tim Smith ihmp4!cithep!tim ima!ism780!ism780b!tim
will@anasazi.UUCP (Will Fuller) (11/04/85)
This line over easy (please)...
Place the egg in the box while it is still inside of a chicken: then
let nature pass your course. <-:
--
William H. Fuller
{decvax|ihnp4|hao}!noao!terak!anasazi!willtino@hou2f.UUCP (A.TINO) (11/05/85)
>One of the racing shoe manufacturers (Nike, etc.) research >departments came up with a wonderful rubbery substance that >absorbs shock by redirecting it laterally. I saw this >demonstrated on one of the TV talk shows a year or two ago. >It looks like just the thing for your egg-dropping experiment >(a parachute would help, too). Unfortunately I can't remember >the name of the product or where to find it; perhaps someone >else on the net knows. --------------------------------------- Are you thinking of Shoe-Goo?
bmg@mck-csc.UUCP (Bernard M. Gunther) (11/05/85)
> I have a small physics problem for all you net.physics.pudits out > there. I have an assignment to drop a brick and an egg in a shoebox out > of a two story window onto a sidewalk. The egg must not break (of course), and > [ -John Kalucki @ Physics Research @ Bell Labs, Murray Hill, NJ ] > [ ...!ihnp4!charm!kalucki ^^^ ] I've never tried this, but if you filled the box with water and re-inforced the box so that it wouldn't break upon impact, the egg should survive just fine. The compressability of water is extremely low. Bernie Gunther
gwyn@brl-tgr.ARPA (Doug Gwyn <gwyn>) (11/06/85)
> One of the racing shoe manufacturers (Nike, etc.) research > departments came up with a wonderful rubbery substance that > absorbs shock by redirecting it laterally. I saw this > demonstrated on one of the TV talk shows a year or two ago. I have been informed that the substance is called Sorbothane.
pmk@prometheus.UUCP (Paul M Koloc) (11/06/85)
> > I have a small physics problem for all you net.physics.pudits out > there. I have an assignment to drop a brick and an egg in a shoebox out > of a two story window onto a sidewalk. The egg must not break (of course), and > I can put whatever I want into the box. In most states such experiments are illegal. But. .... A two stories fall won't be enough to pulverize the brick so pulverize it first, mix the brick powder with half a shoe box full of butter, chill the butter, mold it into ball around the egg, and put it into the center of the shoe box surrounded with a filler of granules of styrofoam or freshly popped popcorn. To keep the butter hard try crushing a couple of ice cubes, putting the crushed ice into a ziploc bag, zip it up and put that around the butter and brick mixture. Zipped ziploc bags filled with air might even work in place of the filler. Try it if it's safe and legal and post the results to the net. - - NOTE: MAIL PATH MAY DIFFER FROM HEADER - - +-------------------------------------------------------+--------+ | Paul M. Koloc, President: (301) 445-1075 | FUSION | | Prometheus II Ltd., College Park, MD 20740-0222 | this | | ..umcp-cs!seismo!prometheus!pmk.UUCP | decade | +-------------------------------------------------------+--------+
raghu@rlgvax.UUCP (Raghu Raghunathan) (11/07/85)
> I have a small physics problem for all you net.physics.pudits out > there. I have an assignment to drop a brick and an egg in a shoebox out > of a two story window onto a sidewalk. The egg must not break (of course), and > Hang the egg using a slightly elastic string inside the box such that it doesn't touch the bottom of the box. When you drop the box make sure the box lands face up (?) so the egg is still hanging from the top of the box.
wdh@faron.UUCP (Dale Hall) (11/07/85)
In article <773@charm.UUCP> kalucki@charm.UUCP (John Kalucki) writes: > > I have a small physics problem for all you net.physics.pudits out >there. I have an assignment to drop a brick and an egg in a shoebox out >of a two story window onto a sidewalk. The egg must not break (of course), and >I can put whatever I want into the box. (...) HELP! Post to the net, or mail >to me, I don't know these things. Try this: ----------------------BOX------------------------------ | | | ______________________ | | | | | | | BRICK | | | | | | | ---------------------- | | ( EGG ) | | ---------------------- | | | | | | | BRICK | | | | | | | ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- Hold the BRICK/EGG sandwich together with something appropriate, say mayonnaise, or Crazy Glue , or rubber bands. It works, trust (tm) me. I know these things. P.S. Best part: don't test this out until it's time to hand in your assignment! You'll get extra points for originality. By the way, neatness counts. P.P.S. Maybe you should experiment with other approaches as well. :-)
halle@hou2b.UUCP (J.HALLE) (11/12/85)
Strap the egg to the brick, with a little padding between. (You dont need much.) Then put the brick in the box and drop. You might need to experiment some to find the best orientation for the egg. (No smiley) You can usually drop an egg ten feet or so with no damage, as long as it lands right.
friesen@psivax.UUCP (Stanley Friesen) (11/12/85)
In article <829@rlgvax.UUCP> raghu@rlgvax.UUCP (Raghu Raghunathan) writes: > > > I have a small physics problem for all you net.physics.pudits out > > there. I have an assignment to drop a brick and an egg in a shoebox out > > of a two story window onto a sidewalk. The egg must not break (of course) >> > Hang the egg using a slightly elastic string inside the box such > that it doesn't touch the bottom of the box. When you drop the box > make sure the box lands face up (?) so the egg is still hanging > from the top of the box. Hmm, maybe that's what the brick is for, put it on the 'down' side of the box to weight it down. This should gaurentee it lands the 'right' way. -- Sarima (Stanley Friesen) UUCP: {ttidca|ihnp4|sdcrdcf|quad1|nrcvax|bellcore|logico}!psivax!friesen ARPA: ttidca!psivax!friesen@rand-unix.arpa
kay@warwick.UUCP (Kay Dekker) (11/13/85)
I don't know if this would work: the theory sounds OK, but I'm not sure I'd like to try it... if anyone wants to do so, please email me the result! Method: Fill the shoebox with a stiffish paste of cornstarch and water. Add the egg and the brick at opposite ends. Tie up, and drop. Cornstarch and water form a rheotropic mixture (ie, flows like a liquid, but when placed under compression sets solid until released). This should tend to cushion the egg against any compressive forces by spreading them evenly over the surface. It will also cushion the brick, but who gives a damn about bricks? ;-) This leads on to a question of my own: I posted it to the net about a year ago, but there was absolutely no response; possibly it didn't get out (our news system was fairly flakey then). Maybe someone will find it interesting. Given the properties of a rheotrope, what would happen if a mechanical oscillator were placed into it? (for example, a piezo buzzer or a vibrator). How does the rheotropism affect the propagation of the compression waves? Does the medium fall apart into increasingly-slushy shells? does the oscillator become coated with an ever-thickening layer of gelled cornstarch? or what? Does anyone have a mathematical model for rheotropism? I'd be interested in results, if anyone has any; I'd do the experiment myself, but the thought of wandering past my housemates into my room carrying a bucket of water, a pack of cornstarch and a vibrator and listening to their comments somewhat deters me... Comments, speculations, snickers welcome, but no flames, please... Kay -- "Be careful: the system is complex and chaotic, though it has many attractive features..." _The Pot-holes of the Yorkshire Moors_ ... mcvax!ukc!warwick!flame!kay
jim@alberta.UUCP (Jim Easton) (11/14/85)
> I have a small physics problem for all you net.physics.pudits out > there. I have an assignment to drop a brick and an egg in a shoebox out > of a two story window onto a sidewalk. The egg must not break (of course) Having seen umpteen inappropriate responses to your question I finally succumbed to answering. Eg. the suggestion of placing the egg between two bricks is silly - the top brick will crush the egg. The idea is to protect the egg from point forces. ie. If it's just resting on a table the entire force holding it up is being applied at one point (vis. where it's in contact with the table). If its in water the forces applied to the body are applied over the egg's entire surface and are proportional to the "depth". Pressure gradients due to acceleration are the same inside the egg as outside and the shell should experience no net pressure differences. This is assuming equal densities and that compressibility can be neglected which is not, in fact, the case (ie. there is a troublesome air bubble) but it's close. The suggestion of filling the box with water was a good start. I would get an old tobacco tin, fill it with water and put the egg in that. Eggs sink - so it has point contact with the bottom of the tin - not a good situation since a large force will be applied. Therefore I would increase the density of the water to the point where the egg would just barely float (try adding salt) Ideally the air bubble in the egg should be above the surface of the water or the surface inside should be level with the surface outside. It's my guess that the above could be dropped directly and the egg wouldn't break but one can improve the situation some more yet. The idea now is to decrease the force applied to the tobacco tin by spreading it over a longer time. You can do this by putting some padding (tightly crumpled newspapers would probably do very nicely) under it. The inertia of the tin will compress the padding but more significantly spread the force over a longer time. If it were me I would fill the box with crumpled newspaper, putting the tin at one end, tie the lid on and drop it endwise (if you don't know which end I have been wasting my time). As for the brick I believe that it was meant to be used to compress some padding, thus increasing the deceleration time, with the egg resting on top of it. In my suggestion the water in the tin supplies the required inertia. Jim Easton (..!alberta!jim)
kort@hounx.UUCP (B.KORT) (11/18/85)
Suspend the egg in a container of gelatin or other viscous fluid so as to spread the force of deceleration over both surface and time. --Barry Kort
meister@linus.UUCP (Phillip W. Servita) (11/18/85)
In article <2383@flame.warwick.UUCP> kay@flame.UUCP (Kay Dekker) writes: >I don't know if this would work: the theory sounds OK, but I'm not sure I'd >like to try it... if anyone wants to do so, please email me the result! > >Method: Fill the shoebox with a stiffish paste of cornstarch and water. Add >the egg and the brick at opposite ends. Tie up, and drop. > >Cornstarch and water form a rheotropic mixture (ie, flows like a liquid, but >when placed under compression sets solid until released). This should tend >to cushion the egg against any compressive forces by spreading them evenly >over the surface. It will also cushion the brick, but who gives a damn about >bricks? ;-) > >This leads on to a question of my own: I posted it to the net about a year >ago, but there was absolutely no response; possibly it didn't get out (our >news system was fairly flakey then). Maybe someone will find it interesting. > >Given the properties of a rheotrope, what would happen if a mechanical >oscillator were placed into it? (for example, a piezo buzzer or a vibrator). >How does the rheotropism affect the propagation of the compression waves? >Does the medium fall apart into increasingly-slushy shells? does the >oscillator become coated with an ever-thickening layer of gelled cornstarch? >or what? Does anyone have a mathematical model for rheotropism? This is indeed neat stuff, great for parties. (grab a ball of the stuff, toss it around between hands, it stays solid. when someone asks what it is, hand it to them. inavriably they will let it sit in their palm, where it will start dripping all over the place...) We call this stuff "ooblick". Anyway, a freind of mine (who will go nameless) put some of this stuff in a blender and turned it on. Result: blender seized, overheated, burned out. the ooblick didnt break apart. -phil -- ----------------------------------------------- "Of course the Nielsen ratings are accurate... We proved it in a taste test!" ----------------------------------------------- -the venn buddhist
dgary@ecsvax.UUCP (D Gary Grady) (11/18/85)
> If it's in water the forces applied to the body are applied over the egg's > entire surface and are proportional to the "depth" . . . > [ suggests dropping egg in container filled with water adjusted by > salt to equal the egg's weight ] > It's my guess that the above could be dropped directly and the egg wouldn't > break ... > > Jim Easton (..!alberta!jim) I'm reminded of a suggestion in the Daedalus column of New Scientist (reprinted in the delightful book The Inventions of Daedelus) that automobiles be filled with liquid and the passengers equipped with wetsuits and SCUBA gear. Talk about passive restraints! For a graphical demonstration of this, see Disney's Son of Flubber.
rjnoe@riccb.UUCP (Roger J. Noe) (11/20/85)
> I'm reminded of a suggestion in the Daedalus column of New Scientist > (reprinted in the delightful book The Inventions of Daedelus) that > automobiles be filled with liquid and the passengers equipped with > wetsuits and SCUBA gear. Talk about passive restraints! For a > graphical demonstration of this, see Disney's Son of Flubber. Would've been useful at Chappaquiddick.
elliot@well.UUCP (Elliot Fabric) (11/22/85)
Put egg in a baloon filled with water or similar substance. Put baloon with egg in a larger baloon also filled with water. Be compulsive, slip this 2nd baloon in yet another baloon filled with more water. Fasten brick to box so it hits first. Brick and box should be cushioned so brick does not bounce in to egg after 1 or more baloons burst. Styrofoam peanuts or crushed up newspaper would do nicely. Lots of packing tape to hold box and brick together. As I am not a brick-egg-in-the-box-dropping expert, try it before classtime. As all the other suggesters before me, I'd love to know if the idea works.