Egg Experiment

Water Density Egg Experiment

You'll need an egg, three glasses tall glasses that are bigger around than the egg, water, and salt.

Fill your first glass about 1/2 to 3/4 full of water. Place your egg in it. Notice whether the egg floats or sinks.

Fill your second glass about 1/4 full of water. Stir in 6-8 tables spoons of salt. Once the mixture has settled, carefully pour in more water. Make sure you don't mix it with the salty water on the bottom of the glass. Once your glass is about 1/2 to 3/4 full (the same total amount as the first glass), gently place your egg in.

What happened to the egg?

In this experiment, the egg should sink to the bottom in the glass with no salt, but appear to float in the glass with the salt. This is because the salt water has a greater DENSITY than water with no salt. This means that the water in the salty glass is heavier than the water in the non-salty glass, even though there is the same amount of liquid in each one.

In the third glass, you can experiment with how much salt and water is needed to make the egg float at different levels. Or, you can try other liquids, such as dish soap or juice? Which liquids have the greater density? How can you tell?