Make a hard egg bounce by adding it to a cup of vinegar. This is a great STEAM experiment to try with children - make different colour "egg balls" and watch how vinegar dissolves the hard shell to create a bouncy egg.
Materials Needed:
- Eggs
- Clear cup or jar
- White Vinegar
- Food Coloring
- Bowl of water
What To Do:
- Place a raw egg carefully in a clear jar or cup.
- Pour enough vinegar into the cup to completely submerge the egg.
- Add in a few generous drops of food colouring and stir gently.
- Observe the eggs each day.
- After about 3-5 days remove the egg from the vinegar and place it in a bowl of water. Gently rub away the shell to reveal the membrane that lies just below it.
- Bounce your egg…but not too hard! The egg will now be bouncy and rubbery but it is still raw on the inside. Press it and bounce to test just how rubbery it is but beware, it will still break! Make sure you break at least one to see what the egg looks like inside!
Hints and Tips:
- The vinegar will dissolve the eggshell over the course of several days. As the shell dissolves it will begin to bubble.
- Try different types of eggs.
- Try different liquids e.g tomato juice, orange juice, diet coke, fruit juice, or Pepsi/coke work?
- Use vinegar to dissolve other items made up of calcium Try chicken bones or limestone rocks.
