Did you know you can take the shell off an egg WITHOUT breaking it? And then it will bounce like a rubber ball? This experiment takes 2 days but is so worth it!
What You’ll Need
🥚 Raw egg (in its shell)
🍶 Glass jar (big enough to hold the egg)
🧪 White vinegar
⏰ Time and patience
How to Do It
1. Place the raw egg gently into the jar.
2. Pour vinegar over the egg until it’s completely covered.
3. Watch — you’ll see tiny bubbles forming on the shell!
4. Cover the jar and leave it for 2 days.
5. Carefully drain the vinegar and rinse the egg under cool water.
6. Your egg now has NO shell — but is still intact, held together by its membrane!
7. Try gently bouncing the egg on a hard surface from low height — it bounces! (Over a sink, just in case.)
How Does It Work?
Egg shells are made of calcium carbonate (the same chemical as chalk). Vinegar is a weak acid called acetic acid.
When acid meets calcium carbonate, a chemical reaction happens. The bubbles you see are carbon dioxide gas being released.
The reaction slowly dissolves the entire shell over 48 hours. What’s left is the rubbery membrane underneath — strong enough to hold the liquid inside.
Cool Experiments to Try After
🔬 Place the naked egg in food coloring water for a few hours — it absorbs the color through the membrane!
🔬 Place it in corn syrup overnight — it shrinks (water leaves the egg)
🔬 Then place it in plain water — it gets BIG again (water re-enters!)
This is called osmosis — water moving in and out through the membrane. Same thing happens to your cells!
Science you can hold (carefully) in your hand! 🧫
