Homeschool Curriculum – Egg in a Bottle

Science doesn’t always have to be so transparent; sometimes, it can be downright magic! Well – at least that’s the illusion you can create with this homeschool curriculum project in which you will actually put a full hard-boiled egg in a bottle seemingly magically. No matter what level your homeschool curriculum is, this project is not only fun, but it’s loaded with learning opportunities.

Ready to get started? First, you’ll need a few materials:
    •    A hard-boiled egg (hey - don’t sound so surprised!) The smaller the better.
    •    A glass bottle. You’ll want the mouth of the glass bottle to be slightly smaller than the egg.
    •    A 3x3 inch piece of newspaper
    •    One match

Once you get your materials together, you’re ready to go! Here are the steps you’ll need to take:
    •    Take the shell off of the egg.
    •    Put the egg on the mouth of the bottle to be sure that the egg will not slip through the mouth just yet. You can remove it once you’ve verified the size.
    •    Fold your newspaper into one strip, about a centimeter wide.
    •    Using the match, light the strip of newspaper.
    •    Drop the burning piece of paper into the bottle.
    •    Put the egg back onto the mouth of the bottle. You may want to place its skinniest part on the mouth of the bottle.
    •    Observe what happens. Take notes. Try not to look so surprised.

This is a pretty cool experiment after all, huh? Almost…magic? I thought you’d like it! Oh – before I forget, check out the Homeschool Science Experiment Guide and workbook for more free science experiment ideas you’ll love.

Here are a few things that you observed:
    •    This is a cool experiment for any homeschool curriculum (had to throw that in there).
    •    The egg may have come apart as it entered the bottle. If this happened, it’s because the egg was probably about half a centimeter or more larger than the diameter of the mouth of the bottle. (To make sure the egg doesn’t come apart, look for the smallest egg you can find. You can also rub a small amount of oil onto the mouth of the bottle to make sure the egg doesn’t break.)
    •    The egg seemed to slide into the bottle without anyone pushing it – as if by magic.

These observations seem rather simple, don’t they? What are you really observing?
    •    The egg fell into the bottle because of air pressure.
    •    Before you put the piece of burning newspaper into the bottle, the air pressure within the glass bottle was the same as the air pressure outside of the bottle.
    •    When you placed the burning paper in the bottle, the air heated up. When air heats, it expands.
    •    Placing the egg on the mouth of the bottle sealed the hot air into the bottle. With no oxygen, the fire is extinguished.
    •    Once the fire was extinguished, the air on the inside of the bottle cooled. Cool air contracts.
    •    When the air contracted, the pressure on the inside of the bottle was less than the air pressure on the outside of the bottle.
    •    The high air pressure on the outside of the bottle forced air into the bottle. You observed physics and chemistry at work. How’s that for a fun project for your homeschool curriculum?

Variation:
If you would like to experiment with a variation, then substitute a water balloon for the egg. Make sure that the balloon is roughly the side of an egg.