Want to make an egg that you can bounce? How about an egg that is a completely different colour?
What you need:
- an egg
- vinegar
- a large glass
What to do:
- Gently place the egg in the glass.
- Cover the egg with vinegar.
- Leave the egg in the vinegar for 4 – 7 days. You can remove the vinegar and pour on fresh vinegar if you like.
- After 4 – 7 days, gently pour out the vinegar and rinse the egg in water.
- You can use your fingers to rub the surface of the egg to remove what is left of the shell, giving you a naked egg (optional).
- You can now gently bounce the egg off a surface (though it can still break).
- Soak the egg in water coloured with food dye for one day. Break the egg open to see what it looks like inside.
What happens:
You may notice that bubbles immediately appear on the surface of the egg once it is in the vinegar. This is caused because the vinegar is reacting with the chemicals that make up the shell, forming carbon dioxide (CO2). The vinegar eventually dissolves the entire shell, any remaining pieces can be brushed away by your fingers. You might have noticed the dissolved shell floating on top of the vinegar. You might also notice that your egg got bigger. Vinegar contains a lot of water. When the egg was soaking in the vinegar, water crossed through the egg’s membranes, making it swollen. If you soaked it in coloured water, the egg will change to that colour, including the liquid inside.