Science Smarts: If Easter’s wake leaves leftover eggs, just donate them to science

By Patty Rooks on April 12, 2025.

If you are like me, you likely purchased way too many eggs for Easter. In order to use some of them up, I thought I’d turn to science of course. This week we will use up those left over eggs as this activity will likely take a few tries, so do not give up! Let’s get started!

*Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment.

Materials

– Hardboiled egg peeled

– Narrow mouth glass bottle

– Matches

– Scissors

– Paper

– Safe place to work

Procedure

1. Find a safe place to work as this experiment involves burning paper so we should have a clear counter or I like to work in the sink at home.

2. Cut a few strips of paper. The strips should be about 10cm x 2 cm.

3. Have an adult light the strip of paper with the matches and carefully drop it inside the bottle.

4. Place the hardboiled egg directly on the mouth of the glass bottle.

5. Watch what happens.

What is going on?

You should have observed that when you put the hardboiled egg on top of the mouth of the bottle, the paper may have extinguished. Keep watching though. Something amazing happens. The egg is literally sucked into the bottle; slowly at first and then right to the bottom! How does this happen? Well, when the flame goes out, the molecules of air in the bottle actually begin to cool down. As they cool down, they become closer together creating a vacuum. Normally, air would come rushing into the bottle as this vacuum is created, but the egg is in the way. There is a push of air from outside the bottle that is great enough to actually push the egg into the bottle!

The trick now is to get the egg out. It is possible, but I think that is an article for another week!

Patty Rooks, senior scientific consultant PRAXIS, “Connecting Science To The Community.” Contact Praxis at praxis@praxismh.ca, http://www.praxismh.ca, Tweet or follow us @PraxisMedHat, or friend us on Facebook. Address: 12 826 11th Street SE, Medicine Hat, AB, T1A 1T7 Phone: 403-527-5365, email: praxis@praxismh.ca.

20
-19