Flying Eggs

This puzzle was in last week’s homework.

Puzzle. How can an egg fly three meters and not break?

The expected answer:

  • The egg flew more than 3 meters and broke afterward.

Some students tried to protect the egg:

  • The egg was bubble-wrapped.
  • The egg was dropped on a cushion.
  • The egg was thrown up, then caught.
  • The egg was thrown into water.
  • My favorite: The egg used a parachute.

Other students specified qualities of an egg making it more resistant:

  • The egg was hard-boiled.
  • The egg was made of plastic.
  • The egg was a frog egg.
  • An educated answer: It could be an ostrich egg, which is extremely strong. (I checked that online, and, indeed, a human can stand on an ostrich egg without breaking it.)
  • My favorite: The egg was fried.

Here are some more elaborate explanations:

  • The egg flew on a plane.
  • The egg was thrown on another planet with low gravity.
  • The egg was thrown in space and will orbit the Earth forever.
  • My favorite: The egg was not birthed yet: it flew inside a chicken.

To conclude this essay, here is a punny answer:

  • The egg was confident, not easy to break by throwing around.
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One Comment

  1. Isaac Grosof:

    When I aas twelve, my summer camp held a competition: pairs of kids would throw eggs back and forth, trying to throw the eggs as far a possible without breaking them. My partner and I won the competition, reaching a throw-catch distance of about 8 meters before the throw where the egg broke. The secret was to accelerate and decelerate the egg in a smooth and gradual fashion, during the throw and catch.

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