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Simple egg experiment and looking at that egg 5 weeks later

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My kids and I did this experiment about a year ago and it was a lot of fun to do. But we didn’t fully understand the concepts covered, like density and buoyancy, so we redid it.

Goal of the experiment was to show how salt water has more density than plain water, which will make the egg float. Floating is buoyancy.

Supplies: a glass cup, enough water to fill half the cup, an egg (uncooked), salt, and a spoon to stir.

Instructions: The recipe called for a certain number of tablespoons of salt with a specific ounce of water, but I just decided to do it my way. See what happens. Even when I follow instructions, it’s a hit or miss. It’s all a learning process anyway.

We filled 3/4 of water in a tall glass cup, added (around) 4 spoon fulls of salt and stirred away. Once the salt particles dissolved, we gently plopped the egg into the cup. It floated down. After many tries of adding salt, stirring, and dropping the egg into the cup, we finally got the egg to float.

The process was slow since the egg had to be gently spooned out of the cup each time we needed to add and stir the salt. Many tries later, the egg finally floated; even with a poke down, the egg bounced back to a float.

SURPRISING RESULT, as a result of not knowing what to do with the egg post experiment: That cup of salt water and egg has been sitting on our kitchen counter for a month now. This was an interesting find…unexpected results! In the beginning, the water level was at the third ring from the top.

Post observational findings:

  1. water slowly evaporates
  2. even with evaporation, the egg still floats
  3. salt crystals formed on top of the egg
  4. No changes occurred on the egg
  5. Still floating, laden with salt crystals on top
  6. After most of the water evaporates, we’ll crack the egg to see if it’s changed

If you have an extra egg and time on your hands, you should try this experiment and see what you find!

I hope I covered the concepts correctly. I’m learning with the kids too and piecing my science knowledge one experiment at a time.

Categories: Homeschool Adventures learning with kids

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singlikewildflowers

Welcome to my blog! My name is Esther and I'm so happy you are here. I'm an avid nature photographer and a daydreaming thinker. My posts revolve around photos of nature's beauty, homeschooling adventures with my 2 kids, sporadic reflections on my child's heart condition, Bible reading reflections, gardening feats, and other mish mash things. Hopefully you'll leave encouraged, pensive, or smiling at the simple things of life. Thank you for stopping by and hope you'll find some interesting posts to read!

12 replies ›

      1. You did well – it worked. Pat yourself on the back for that! Don’t do the Mento in the Coke bottle though. But do the penny in the glass of Coke to show how it cleans the dirt off the penny.

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      2. Coke is so strong…can you imagine what it does inside the stomach? Kids rubbed vinegar on a penny and it got shiny clean. Coke sounds like a good experiment too. Must try.
        We did a Mentos in Coke at last year’s church VBS. They would love to do it again. šŸ™‚

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      3. I didn’t know vinegar did that – wow. Coke is very strong on the stomach. I was never allowed to drink pop as a kid, so never drink it now. Just had milk or juice. Juice has sugar in it too though. The Mentos in Coke – no wonder they would like to do it again. Powerful stuff!

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      4. Vinegar is acidic, so it did the trick. That could be why vinegar is touted as a natural cleaning solution. I’ve read that you could put drops of your your favorite essential oil scent into vinegar to make it smell less spicy!
        Man, I drank soda all the time. lol. I didn’t know I was lactose intolerant when I was growing up and wondered why I felt ill with dairy. But I thought being American meant eating sliced cheese, so I’d force myself to eat it. Afterwards, I would get gassy from it.
        Your parents chose well to limit your drinks! You were a good kid to follow their rules.

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    1. Yes, this is a fun experiment to do on a lazy afternoon! It doesn’t require a lot of supplies and whatever is needed is basic kitchen stuff. I do hope you try and let me know how it goes.
      Thank you for stopping by and for leaving a comment. I appreciate the follow and I’ll check out your blog too.
      Hope you are having a good Sunday. šŸ™‚

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