The Naked Egg: Make an Ordinary Egg Wobbly, Bouncy, and Squishy Using the Scientific Method!

In this Instructable, I'll show you how to make an egg squishy and bouncy using household items, but will also teach you how to use the scientific method. When using the scientific method, remember this acronym:

P: Problem
H: Hypothesis
E: Experiment
O: Observations
C: Conclusion

To make a problem, ask a question. For example: What will happen when you soak an egg in vinegar? Now that we have a question, let's get started!

Step 1: Hypothesis

Now it's time to predict what will happen in the experiment. Make sure not to use "I think" in your hypothesis. An example hypothesis is: When an egg is soaked in vinegar, the shell will be eaten away.

Step 2: What You Will Need: Prepare for the Experiment

Now, figure out what supplies you will need to conduct your experiment.

For this experiment, you will need:

1. A container that you don't mind getting dirty
2. Vinegar
3. A raw egg

Step 3: Fill the Container: Set Up Your Experiment

Now it's time to set up your experiment. Prepare everything you need so that your experiment runs smoothly. For example, in this experiment, you will your old container with vinegar. Make sure you pour enough to be able to fully submerge the egg.

Step 4: Submerge the Egg and Wait: Conduct Your Experiment

Now, it's finally time to conduct your experiment. If you properly prepared all of your supplies, your experiment will run smoothly. For this egg experiment, you will drop your egg into the vinegar (carefully, of course). After a couple of minutes, you will see some foam/ bubbles building up. This is normal and will be explained later on. Now, just wait. Leave your egg in the vinegar for at least 24 hours. The longer the egg is in the vinegar, the better the results.

Step 5: Have Fun Playing With Your Egg: Observe

Make observations of the outcome of your experiment:

After the 24 hours (or your desired amount of time), you can take out the egg. If there is still some shell on it, you can carefully scrub it off with warm water. Then it should look like how it is depicted below. Now have fun bouncing and squishing your egg. You can also hold a light up to it for a cool glowing effect.


****WARNING**** If you bounce your egg from too high or are too rough with it, it WILL break. Even though it may feel kind of solid, it is still, um, eggy on the inside.

Step 6: Conclude

Now that you have completed your experiment, conclude. Do some research and find out what is going on. For example, after doing this experiment, I found this out:

The vinegar contains acetic acid, which eats away the carbon and calcium molecules in the eggshell. The membrane, however is left undisturbed because it doesn't contain materials that the acid can attack. The bubbles you saw were carbon dioxide being released. 


Thanks, everyone for viewing my Instructable. I hope you had fun making a jiggly, bouncy egg while learning how to use the scientific method!