This activity is a fun twist on the traditional lemon dropping into a glass inertia demonstration.
It’s a simple science trick that works well with a small chocolate egg.
Don’t forget to take a look at my Easter STEM challenges, too!
You’ll need
Small chocolate egg
Cardboard tube or card rolled into a tube shape. The egg needs to fit on top without falling through.
Large glass
Small piece of card – A5 sized
Instructions
Place the A5 sheet of card on top of the pint glass.
Carefully put the tube on the card.
Balance the egg on top of the column. It needs to be directly above the glass.
Hold the glass with one hand and then quickly pull the A5 card with the other hand.
The chocolate egg should drop into the glass.
Why does the egg drop straight down?
Isaac Newton’s First Law states that an object stays still or keeps moving at the same speed and in a straight line unless a force acts upon it.
In simple terms, this means that if an object isn’t moving, it won’t start to move unless a force makes it move.
The egg is heavier than the cardboard column, which means it doesn’t move as easily as the column when the cardboard is pulled from underneath.
There isn’t a sideways force acting on the egg, so it falls straight down because of gravity.
Isaac Newton’s First Law is known as the Law of Inertia.
Learn more about Newton’s Laws of Motion and how they apply to space travel in my book, This IS Rocket Science!
Last Updated on March 27, 2024 by Emma Vanstone
