Museum of Science and Industry

Drop Eggs Into Cups

Learn about types of energy in this puzzling and fun experiment.

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Lesson at a glance

Transform potential energy to kinetic energy while demonstrating the property of inertia. How does energy transfer?  What are some ways in which you observe the transfer of energy in your daily life?  How can inertia be useful in your daily life? How is inertia sometimes dangerous?

Students Will Know:
Energy transformation – Energy is neither created nor destroyed.  The amount of energy in the universe remains the same; when we use energy, we don’t use it up, we transform it from one form into other forms of energy.
Inertia – An object stays still or moving, unless an outside force is applied to it.
Kinetic energy – Energy of an object due to its motion.
Gravitational potential energy – Energy an object possesses because of its position in a gravitational field.

Students Will Be Able To:
Successfully drop four eggs into plastic cups using a broom, demonstrating the transfer of potential to kinetic energy.
Describe how the downward inertia of the eggs causes them to fall into the cups when the broom hits the cardboard
Draw and summarize the transfer of energy.

Illinois Learning Standards

Late Elementary
State Goal 11: A.2a
State Goal 12: C.2a; D.2b
State Goal 13: A.2c  
Middle / Junior High
State Goal 11: A.3a
State Goal 12: D.3a
State Goal 13: D.3b

Guiding questions

What are the possible ways to make the eggs drop into the cups?
Where is the transfer of energy in this activity?
What is the role of inertia in this activity?
How does this activity relate to the magician’s table cloth trick?