How to Make an Egg Bounce! Awesome Kids Science Experiments

Can you make an egg bounce? You absolutely can! Making bouncy eggs is a fun and easy experiment that is fascinating to kids.

The experiment takes one week and over that time you observe and discover what happens when you leave one egg in a glass of vinegar and another egg in water – will there be a difference? Will they still look the same? Will they be gross and a bit stinky? Will they bounce? Science for Kids: Bouncy Eggs Experiment
Before we get to the nuts and bolts of the experiment I have a few tips we’ve  learned from experience.

Firstly, it is a good idea for the whole household to know you are conducting a very important science experiment – otherwise a very well-intentioned family member may ‘clean up’ your experiment halfway through!

Secondly, labelling is important – it is easy to forget how long the eggs have been soaking and it does need to run for the full 7 days.

Thirdly, it might be prudent to let each of your children set up their own egg bounce experiment. I have two children and the first time we conducted this experiment we only soaked one egg in vinegar. The kids fought over that egg and one of them poked their finger right through the egg partway through the experiment. Then there were a lot of tears about a ruined experiment! Now each kid has their own labelled egg jars. I also add different coloured food dye to the jars so that each child knows exactly which is theirs.

Science for kids: Bouncy eggs experiment

How to Make an Egg Bounce Experiment

You will need:

  • Eggs
  • Glass jars (you don’t need the lids)
  • Labels or a permanent marker
  • White vinegar
  • Water
  • Food dye – at least two different colours (optional)
  • A watchful eye!

The experiment:

Science for kids: Bouncy eggs experiment

  1. Label each glass jar with the date and either ‘water’ or ‘vinegar’.
  2. Fill one (or more) jar/s with vinegar and one (or more) with water until approximately two-thirds full.
  3. Add a small drop of food dye to each jar (optional). Each jar should should have a different colour for easy identification. Don’t make the colour too dark because it is harder to see the eggs.
  4. Carefully place a whole raw egg into each filled glass jar.
  5. Watch your eggs. Within a few minutes you will notice that bubbles will appear on the egg soaking in vinegar. Nothing much happens to the egg in water.
  6. Continue to observe the eggs over 7 days. Ask your children if they can see any changes in either egg.
  7. After 7 days take the eggs out of the jars and look at the differences between the egg soaked in vinegar and the egg soaked in water.

Science for kids: Bouncy eggs experiment

Along the way, there will be lots of interesting changes to the egg soaked in vinegar. The vinegar is an acid which dissolves the egg shell (calcium carbonate) producing lots of bubbles and a brown scum on the surface. Each day my kids scrape off the scum and gently poke their eggs reporting back that they feel soft and rubbery. The egg in water looks the same and feels normal.

Science for kids: Bouncy eggs experiment

The bouncy bit:
After 7 days the eggs can come out of the jars. You will notice that the egg has expanded and become a bit rubbery – this is caused by the vinegar permeating the egg’s membrane once the shell has been dissolved. Hold the egg a short distance over a large bowl and drop it – the egg bounces! Try dropping the egg from a higher and higher height until it smashes. You can try this with the egg soaked in water too…but you will only need to drop it once!

Are you game to eggs-periment with making an egg bounce???

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One Comment

  1. We tried a similar experiment but the egg only soaked for three days. I’m really intrigued to try this again and see how it feels and bounces after seven days. And great tips for labeling and including eggs for each child. The first time we tried I only used two eggs and one exploded midway through the soaking process. Thanks so much for sharing!

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