Yolk’s on you – eggs break less when they land sideways

It might sound like common sense – and it’s echoed by science communicators and even ChatGPT – but it’s wrong. New research shows eggs are less likely to crack when they land on their side than on their end.

According to research published in Communications Physics, a trial simulating the classroom science experiment found that the shell of a hen’s egg is better able to withstand the impact of a fall when it lands side-on.

while it is true that eggs are stronger when loaded vertically into static stress test equipment, many commentators make the mistake of assuming this holds for the dynamic scenario involving a falling egg.

“Through hundreds of experiments and a set of static and dynamic simulations, we demonstrate a statistically significant decrease in the likelihood that an egg breaks when oriented horizontally as opposed to vertically, and offer a concrete and intuitive explanation as to why this is the case,” said the paper’s authors.

MIT associate professor Tal Cohen and her colleagues dropped eggs 180 times from three different heights – 8, 9, and 10 mm – onto a hard surface. They observed that on average, eggs dropped vertically broke at lower drop heights.

The researchers also compiled a list of AI responses, YouTube videos, and online articles that repeated the now-debunked claim that eggs are more robust when they land end down.

“These results and the associated analysis demonstrate the importance of specificity of language and the dangers of appealing to ‘common sense’ in the physics classroom while having wide-ranging implications due to the ubiquity of shell structures in nature and in the man-made world,” the paper said.

The authors also took the time to pick apart where the “common sense” thinking goes awry. They point out that while it is true that eggs are stronger when loaded vertically into static stress test equipment, many commentators make the mistake of assuming this holds for the dynamic scenario involving a falling egg.

“In contrast to static loading, to remain intact following a dynamic impact, a body must be able to absorb all of its kinetic energy by transferring it into reversible deformation,” the paper said.

“It is evident now that the flaw in the common argument is with the definition of a ‘strong’ egg. The preponderance of STEM communicators understand that an egg is stiffer in one direction, but they equate this with ‘strength’ in all other senses. However, eggs need to be tough, not stiff, in order to survive a fall.”

“Our results and analysis serve as a cautionary tale about how language can affect our understanding of a system, and improper framing of a problem can lead to misunderstanding and miseducation. We hope that this revised framing of the problem will help equip budding scientists and engineers with a better understanding of the way in which objects and structures react to impact and dynamic loads.” ®