We usually find that is very easy to break a chicken egg, right? But have yoou ever tried to squeeze it upright? It is much more resistent than we usually think. Discover the physical explanations of why the egg doesn’t break that way.

The shape of the egg

What makes the egg become so resistent upright is basically the closed angle of the bend in this position. That’s because the resistance of eggshell cancels out the force exerted in the attempt to break it is basically the effect of action and reaction, Newton’s 3rd Law.

When we squeeze one the poles of the egg, by pressing downwards, the bottom part reacts by pushing back the region of the shell that has been pressed. This opposite force cancels out the exerted pression and hinders the eggshell from moving and consequently from breaking.

But why does the egg break on the diagonal?

So that effect happens, it is essential that the angle of the depressed point is well closed. If it is not, it means that the force exerted is perpendicular to the eggshell and this will be broken.

This is also why more rounded eggs, such as the ones of sea turtles, since the force is not distributed as in chicken eggs.

 

Curious, don’t you think? Physics is in everything we observe. Check out other curiosities on our blog.