Activity Overview
Unlock the mystery of the floating egg with this fun and easy Science experiment. Magic and Science really go hand in hand in this Fascinating Floating Egg experiment that can be performed by all ages with a few simple items from around your home. Perform this experiment for Science purposes and then add it to your list of cool magic tricks to perform for a crowd.
In this experiment, you will create a salt water solution in a half glass of water, place an egg in the water and watch it float. If you put the egg in plain water it would sink. You can do this as a trial too if you like before you get started. Using a spoon to disperse fresh water, you will then pour the fresh water into the glass on top of the salt water solution. The egg is left suspended in between the salt water solution and the fresh water. To the unknown onlooker, it looks like the egg is floating in plain water.
Salt water has a higher density than plain water, therefore the egg floats in the middle. The egg will not rise to the surface of the unsalted water.
Materials Needed
- A drinking glass
- Water
- Spoon
- Salt
- Egg
How to Do It
- Fill a glass halfway with water.
- Add several spoonfuls of salt to the water and mix well until completely dissolved.
- Gently place an egg into the glass and you will see it float on the top of the water.
- Next, hold the spoon across the surface of the water and pour fresh water over the spoon carefully and steadily. The spoon will help to spread the water out over the top of the salt water mixturwhat looks like plain water.e.
- Observe as your egg now is left suspended in the center of the glass of