How might you do an experiment on making an egg float in salt water?

Answer 1

There will be a bit of variation between eggs, but an investigator might do something like this: Get a container like a soup pot. Put a known volume of water in it and have it about 4 or 5 inches deep. (Measure!) Record your data. Borrow a half dozen eggs from the fridge. Get permission to do this. The "selling point" is that the eggs will be returned in tact and in the same condition when you're done. Get some salt and a tablespoon to measure that salt. Gently add the eggs to the water, then add a tablespoon of salt. Stir gently to get all the salt to dissolve. Patience is required here. If you want to "speed up" things, you might consider getting a cup and dipping it into the solution, lifting it out, and pouring it back in. This might be a better way to agitate and mix the solution. It's "safer" as well. You want all the salt to dissolve, and you don't want to break the eggs. It's important that you get all the salt to dissolve before adding more, and (at the risk of repeating it) patience is a must. Though hot water would help, you're not using it because you want the eggs to be like they were before you borrowed them. Make sense? Keep adding a tablespoon of salt, stirring (or "mixing" by "cupping" out water and pouring it back in), and then waiting to insure it's all dissolved. Keep recording what you do and also the results of your actions (your observations). Eventually the eggs will float. See how much salt you had to add to the water and take the amount of salt and water and make a calculation to determine salinity. If you care to, repeat the experiment. You'll have discovered how salty water has to be to float eggs. Lastly, you'll write this up and turn it in.

Answer 2

The salt makes the water denser than freshwater, so more things can float in saltwater than freshwater, since floating objects (the egg) have to be less dense than the liquid that it is placed in. In fact, adding salt to water will increase its density.

For another example, if you were to swim in the Dead Sea, you would always float because it has the highest salt % in the world.

Answer 3

If your experiment is to determine if an egg with float in salty water, one of the variables would be the amount of salt used. Another variable would be the size of the egg.

Answer 4

the salt makes the water more dense so the egg is less dense than the water making it float.

Answer 5

sink