For this Year 6 science experiment you need:
What to do:
- Put 1 whole raw
egg in a glass of water.
- Put 1 whole raw egg in a glass of
vinegar.
- Leave them for a few hours.
- Have a look at the
eggs. The one in the water is the same. The one in the vinegar has started
to fizz. The acid in the vinegar is dissolving the calcium carbonate that is
in the shell.
- Touch the egg in the vinegar. It should feel like a
rubber ball.
- Leave both eggs alone for 7 days.
Take the vinegar egg
into a dark room and shine the torch at it. The light should bounce off the
egg. When this occurs:- Take the vinegar egg out of the glass. Hold the egg over the
bowl.
- Drop the egg
What happens:
The egg bounces.
Try it again getting a little bit higher each time. See how high you can
make the egg bounce. Now try it with the egg from the glass of
water.
Why it happens: A chemical change occurs in the egg left
in vinegar. The vinegar, which is an acid, reacts with the calcium carbonate
in the eggshell. The change makes the shell soften, then disappear. This is
known as "decalcifying". The egg in the glass of water does not change
(unless it's hot water, in which case the egg will cook...but that's another
story).