Place an Egg in a Beer Bottle

Have you ever seen science shows where they "magically" make an egg fall into a bottle? It’s not so much magic as it is a study in air pressure. With a few household items, you too can get an egg into a bottle without even touching it.[1] You may not be able to get the whole egg into the beer bottle. Because the mouth of a beer bottle is much smaller than the egg, the egg will split, but some of it will still be pushed into the bottle.

Steps

Getting the Egg into the Bottle

  1. Gather the necessary materials. To get an egg into a beer bottle, you will need an egg, a pot, water, a stove, a glass beer bottle, vegetable oil, a small strip of paper, and matches. Remember, because the mouth of the beer bottle is small, you probably won’t get the whole egg into it. If you want to get the whole egg in, you must use a bottle with a wide enough mouth for the egg to rest comfortably on without falling through.[2]
    • Parental supervision is recommended for both boiling the egg and working with the matches.
    • A small to medium sized egg works best for this.
    • Use a glass bottle for this because the bottle will be in close contact with fire.
    • Cut a strip of paper thin enough that it can fit through the mouth of the bottle and not stick out the top.
  2. Hard-boil the egg. Place the egg in a pot. Put enough water in the pot to submerge the egg and bring it to a boil. Once the water boils, remove it from the burner and let the egg sit for 9-12 minutes. The egg will cook while it is sitting in the hot water.[3]
    • Remove the egg from the hot water and let it cool.
  3. Peel the egg. The easiest way to peel an egg is to run it under cold water or submerge it in ice water to cool it. Crack the egg gently on a hard surface to break the shell. As you start peeling, run the egg under cold water to make the shell peel away more easily.[3]
    • Fresher eggs are more difficult to peel than older eggs.
  4. Rub vegetable oil around the inside rim of the bottle. Get some vegetable oil on a paper towel or on your finger and rub a light layer around the inside of the mouth of the bottle. The vegetable oil increases lubrication and allows the egg to slide in easily.[2]
    • This step is not necessary, but is recommended.
  5. Light the paper on fire and drop it into the bottle. Strike the match to light it and then light the edge of the paper on fire. Drop the lit piece of paper into the glass bottle. Make sure you are using a glass bottle for this.[2]
    • Proceed immediately to the next step after this.
    • Ask a parent for help with this step.
  6. Place the egg on the rim of the bottle and watch. Once the lit paper is inside the bottle, place the peeled hard-boiled egg on the mouth of the bottle and watch what happens. The egg will wiggle, the flame will go out and then the egg will get pushed into the bottle through the mouth.[2]
    • The flame heats up the air inside the bottle making it expand. This hot air escapes past the egg causing it to wiggle. Once the flame consumes all of the oxygen it will burn out and the air in the bottle will cool down.
    • Cool air exerts less pressure. Because the air outside the bottle is warmer it exerts more air pressure and pushes the egg into the bottle.

Removing the Egg from the Bottle

  1. Gather the necessary materials. To get the pieces of egg back out of the bottle you will need baking soda, vinegar, and a plate.[1] This experiment is essentially the reverse of what you did to get the egg into the bottle. You will increase the air pressure inside the bottle so the egg will get pushed back out.
    • You need about {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} of baking soda and 3 tablespoons of vinegar.
  2. Add vinegar to the bottle. Three tablespoons should be enough, but exact measurements aren’t necessary.[1] With the bottle upright pour the vinegar into the bottle avoiding the egg as much as possible.
  3. Spoon the baking soda into the bottle. Once the vinegar has been added, spoon the baking soda into the bottle on top of the vinegar. You may need to give the bottle a little swirl to mix everything.[1]
    • Once things start bubbling, proceed immediately to the next step.
  4. Flip the bottle upside down over the plate. Immediately after adding the baking soda, flip the bottle upside down. To avoid making a mess, flip it over the plate to catch the solution that falls out. Make sure the egg pieces are positioned so that it blocks the mouth of the bottle.[1]
    • The baking soda reacts with the vinegar creating carbon dioxide gas. As the gas is made, the air pressure inside the bottle increases. The increased air pressure inside the bottle causes the egg to get pushed back out of the bottle.



Warnings

  • Have adult supervision or permission before you light the match.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 http://cstmuseum.techno-science.ca/en/education/try-this-out-incredible-science-tricks-the-egg-and-the-bottle.php
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 http://www.hometrainingtools.com/a/egg-in-bottle-project
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.incredibleegg.org/recipe/easy-hard-boiled-eggs/
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