Professor Pete has assembled some eggs and a variety of parachutes of different sizes. They are made from plastic bags, string and yoghurt pots. For safety the eggs are dropped from the top of a ladder by a firefighter. First, as a control, Professor Pete asks the fireman to drop an egg without any parachute attached to it at all. No surprise - we just get a scrambled egg. The Professor then tries a variety of parachutes and ends up attaching a parachute made from a black bin liner. This large bag has a lot of wind resistance and allows the lucky egg to float down to the ground without breaking. PROMPT QUESTION: Why didn't the last egg break?

Video Series: Lesson Starters
Release Date 2009