Stand an egg on end with this fun science activity for kids – all you need is a little help from the sun or salt.
The shape of an egg makes it nearly impossible to stand on end. However, there are two days a year when the sun is directly overhead and an egg may stand on its own all by itself – the first day of spring (spring equinox) and the first day of autumn (autumnal equinox).
If you are trying this on a day that is not an equinox, use salt to stand up the egg. Even better, stand the egg up when no one is looking and call in an unwitting person to be amazed. My youngest son just tricked his older brother into spending several minutes trying hopelessly to stand up an egg!
What you need:
Raw egg
Table salt
What you do:
Pour a small pile of salt onto a flat surface.
Carefully stand the egg on end in the pile of salt.
Blow away the pile of salt until only a few crystal are left holding up the egg.
Now call in an unsuspecting friend and let them try to stand up and egg while your egg cooly stands still and tall!
Why does this work?
Salt crystals are perfect cubes and form little pedestals to stand up the egg.
