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Published on 08/07/1995 All articles from this issue

Foothill physics students' egg walk is no yolk

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The students in Tsing Bardin's conceptual physics class at Foothill College were walking on eggs last week. In this class project, part of Foothill' s Summer Youth Program, students were challenged to design shoes that would be suitable for walking on unprotected eggs without breaking them.

As unlikely as this sounds, Bardin assured us it can be done and the students set out to prove it recently. It's all a matter of physics, Bardin said. A student who is slight doesn't necessarily stand a better chance than a burly one.

It all has to do with pressure. The eggs experience the pressure. If the weight on the egg is spread out over a larger area, the pressure is smaller. Therefore, the eggs will not break. It's the same physics principle used in the design in the egg carton.

To illustrate, Bardin asked the class to predict who will be the most successful eggwalker - an-85 pound girl or a 200-pound football player. The class, naturally, picked the girl to be the winner. But because she had a high arch and a small foot, the pressure that came down on the eggs was much more intense in relation to the area. The young man had flat feet and large feet, so the area his weight was distributed over was many times larger and he won in a walk.

Bardin used 18-egg cartons for the project and bought some eight cartons just in case the contestants broke any. The students had to take at least five steps on eggs to consider the experiment complete. Points were awarded as follows: 10 points for participating, 10 points for not breaking any eggs and 10 for adding extra weight, such as back-packs or even piggy-backing another student.

The 20 students in Bardin's class range in age from 13-17, with 10 boys, 10 girls. Another project the group has tackled is making musical instruments that can play a simple tune. For this, students used sewer pipes, steel pipes, coat hangers. In another project they constructed cars that could be propelled without motors, employing the laws of physics, and using such high tech materials as rubber bands. Motors or anything already manufactured were forbidden. Making periscopes was yet another student project.

The Foothill Summer Youth Program runs for six weeks and is now in its 11th year. Janice Carr is director of the program and 900 students were enrolled this summer. They take from one to three courses and earn up to 12 units of Foothill College credit for their work. Cost was between $70-$130, depending on the number of units. Some 50 different courses were offered this summer, including SAT preparation, along with the usual math, computer science, drama, foreign languages and sports courses.

Advanced problem solving is one of the courses offered and it trains students to compete in math contests. Some Foothill youth grads, who have taken the course for years, are nationally ranked by now in math competition, said Carr.

For grade-school aged children the program takes a more sports-centered approach, akin to summer camp, Carr said. Parents are enthusiastic in their praise of the Summer Youth Program, Carr said. One parent wrote, "My daughter attended for six years and we appreciate all the wonderful teachers she's had and the tremendous amount of skills she's learned. Thanks for your sport and wonderful program."

Bardin was a research scientist at Lockheed for 20 years and has a doctorate in physics from Columbia.

For more information, call the Summer Youth Program at 949-7613.