AP Physics students participated in an egg launch lab during 3rd hour on Tuesday, Oct. 19. The students were required to build a projectile apparatus that launches a raw egg at least 5.0 meters above the point of release and 2.0 meters horizontally.
The students were given time to build their launchers at home. Once completed, they brought their devices to school to launch.
“My group put a ton of effort into our project and it was great to see that it finally paid off,” senior Gillian Edwards said. “It was fun to see what everyone else made and to compare our ideas to others.”
Using stopwatches and stride lengths, they were able to calculate the eggs flight time and horizontal distance travelled. They used these measurements to determine the average acceleration, maximum height, angle of launch and launch speed.
After everyone was given the chance to launch their device, teacher Greg Huizenga put on a jacket and safety goggles and gave the students three minutes to try to hit him. No one was successful, however there were many close calls.
"Huizenga's great, but launching eggs at him was a ton of fun," Edwards said. "Our launcher collapsed in the process of trying to hit him and it was shockingly good at not breaking eggs. I'm sure we could have gotten even closer, but it was still a great time. It's nice to have fun like that in AP classes that are usually not so easygoing. I'm sad Mr. Huizenga didn't actually get egged, but maybe someone will one-up us next year."
Overall, the experiment was successful. Students were challenged to apply what they have learned in class while having fun.
“I think the lab was a good lesson in creativity and perseverance,” Edwards said. “My group spent probably 12 hours over four separate days trying to get our launcher to the perfect condition. Even then, it still was a struggle throughout. There were plenty of times where the PVC would collapse and one of us would say ‘Well, I guess Huizenga will get it how it is,’ but we stuck with it and the result was super satisfying.”