Here follow my instructions for the Peel off an Egg experiment. In this experiment, you will get to peel off a raw egg without cracking it. You will have to be patient since this experiment will take approx. 2-4 days to finish. But don’t worry, you don’t need to watch it all the time.

Remember to start the experiment with a hypothesis, what do you think will happen?

Instructions for parents: Read this first.

Material included:

• An egg
• Vinegar (12%)
• Syrup

Additional things you will need:

• A glass
• Plastic film

Safety:

No hazardous chemicals are included in this experiment. Residues can be flushed into the sink and discarded with the trash (the egg can be composted).

Description part 1 – peel the egg:

1. Place the egg in a glass.
2. Fill the glass with vinegar so it covers the egg.
3. Cover the glass with plastic film and make small holes to minimize the smell of vinegar in the room.
4. Wait for two days.

Description part 2 – Investigate the egg:

1. Gently throw away the solution and remove the remaining parts of the shell.
2. Investigate the egg, how has it changed?
3. Try bouncing the egg carefully.

Description part 3 – Put the egg in syrup:

1. Place the egg in another glass
2. Fill the glass with diluted syrup (1 part syrup + 1 part water) so it covers the egg.
3. Wait for two days.

Description part 4 – Investigate the egg again:

1. Gently throw away the syrup.
2. Investigate the egg, how has it changed?

Explanation:

The shell consists mostly of lime = calcium carbonate, CaCO3. When carbonate comes into contact with acid, it dissolves and carbon dioxide is released. You can see how bubbles of carbon dioxide form on the shell of the acetic acid solution.

What will remain is the thin skin, inside the shell, which consists of essential protein. It does not dissolve in the acid. The skin acts as a semipermeable membrane, which means that the skin is permeable to certain small molecules, such as water. However, larger molecules, such as the proteins in the egg white or the syrup in the syrup, cannot penetrate.

Because the water content of the acetic acid solution outside the skin is much higher than in the egg white, more water molecules migrate into the egg than it migrates. It is a purely statistical effect. This causes the egg to swell in the acetic acid solution.

In syrup, the relationship is the opposite. Even though the syrup is diluted with water, much more water is needed to “bind” to all the sugar. Therefore, the water flows from the egg white solution into the egg to the syrup, and the egg shrinks.

To see others do the experiment look at this video:

Click the link to get back to my Kids Christmas Calendar to see more experiments.

Do you have any questions or comments about the experiment? Just leave a comment below!

Thanks!

Marika