Cracking Common Notions Relating Egg Strength to Impact Orientation

The chicken egg possesses a shell structure that is conventionally thought to be strongest when loaded on its vertical poles, particularly the sharp end, which resembles a structural arch. This notion has influenced educational activities such as the "egg drop challenge", where participants typically orient the egg with its sharp end facing downwards to improve its chances of resistance to fracture upon impact. This study tests this conventional wisdom by investigating the egg's strength, or energy sustained before rupture, depending on its orientation. First, static compression tests were conducted to determine the maximum energy absorbed by the egg based on its compression axes. Eggs yielded greater deformations and energy absorbed before rupture when compressed horizontally rather than vertically, suggesting potential advantages under dynamic loading conditions. To validate that these trends also held under dynamic loading, drop tests from varying heights were performed to assess the kinetic energy required to fracture the egg. Contrary to intuitive understanding, eggs dropped on their equators could undergo greater drop heights without rupturing compared to those dropped on their vertical poles. This unexpected finding challenges the prevailing notion of the egg's structure and suggests a new perspective on its impact behavior.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Sutanto, Antony

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Cohen, Tal

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
• Copyright retained by author(s)

Licence dc:rights.uri

• https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/156984

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/156984