As an engineering challenge, a group of high schoolers are trying to create an apparatus to safely catch a dropped egg. A USDA-rated large chicken egg with a mass of 57 grams is to be dropped from one meter above the apparatus, and the plan is to make a cloth catcher suspended by springs. Physically this will act the same as a single effective spring. You are asked to consult on selection of springs by the teacher planning the event.

If the apparatus is to be 20 cm above the floor (and the egg is meant to not hit the floor)

how stiff should the spring system be?

Is final answer reasonable/make sense to the question?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

To determine how stiff the spring system should be to safely catch the egg without it hitting the fl... View the full answer