Naked Egg–Pinned it, Did it!

When I saw the naked egg experiment on Pinterest I just knew I had to try it with my girls.  This one even fascinated me and my husband!

To do it with your kids you’ll need:

• One to two raw eggs
• A see through glass or container
• Vinegar
• Corn syrup
• Water
• Spoon
• Time

Time is the biggest issue with this experiment.  Each phase takes 24-48 hours to complete.  My girls got a bit anxious at first and actually broke two eggs!

1) Start by gently placing a raw egg into a clear glass or container.
2) Next add vinegar to the glass until the egg is covered. Pretty much right away you’ll notice bubbles forming on the egg. This is the beginning of the vinegar (an acid) eating away the egg’s calcium shell.
3) Leave the egg alone for 24 hours.
4) After 24 hours, gently pour out the vinegar.

5) Grab your egg and gently rinse it under water. You’ll notice that the shell is beginning to rub or peal off. DO NOT FORCE IT! My girls learned the hard way not to pick too much. They broke the first egg.
6) After you’ve rinsed your egg, gently put it back in the glass and cover with vinegar again for 24 hours.
7) After 24 hours, rinse off you egg with water again and rub off any remaining shell.

This is where the fun begins!

You could stop at this point and simply play with or bounce your egg until it breaks, or you could move on to the next steps:

Put your “naked egg” in corn syrup for 24 hours and watch it shrivel up.

Then…put it in plain water for 24 hours and watch it plump back up again!

It’s all about osmosis.  I tried explaining that to my girls but they are only 4 and 7 so they didn’t quite get it.  Oh well, it was a blast to do anyway.

One other FYI: We bounced the egg as high as we could until it broke.  I think we made it up to about 2-2.5 feet before it broke!

Have you done this with your kids?