Easter Science – Make a Naked Egg

Chicken eggs are strong. Take an egg and hold it in your hand horizontally. You will not be able to crush it. Hold it with the ends touching your fingers and your palm, and it may burst. Egg shells are incredibly strong.

The egg shell contains calcium carbonate. At Eastertime, some people use vinegar to color eggs. The vinegar permeates the egg shell and helps dye the egg.

But what if you leave the egg in the vinegar for several days? What will happen to the shell? Place the egg in a glass filled with vinegar and watch over the course of five to six days to see what happens to the shell.

The vinegar will eventually dissolve the calcium carbonate and pickle the inside of the egg. You don’t want to eat the egg after this process. Your egg will no longer have the hard shell, but a rubbery see through covering. Try holding a flash light up to the egg to see what is inside. Just be careful, the egg is very fragile without its shell.

So remember, don’t dress your eggs for Easter dinner, make them naked eggs and amaze your friends and family.

For more Easter Science experiments, check out our Experiment Library on SteveSpanglerScience.com.