Mrs. Legendre's Honors Physics students used their knowledge of energy to bungee jump eggs down the B-side staircase. To make sure their egg dropped within a range of 40 centimeters to the ground, they had to make numerous calculations.
“I’m really happy and surprised that almost everyone’s eggs dropped within 40 centimeters of the ground. They just kept on getting it!” said Mrs. Legendre.
The students performed steps including making a rubber band bungee, calculating the gravitational potential energy of the egg, calculating the elastic potential energy of the egg, finding the spring constant, and measuring a piece of string that would attach to the bungee. Some students even got creative and named their eggs. The students then attached the bungee to their eggs in preparation to drop them down a flight of stairs.
“We decided to name our egg JAK because our initials are J, K, and A,” said senior Jess Ladd along with her partners Kara Hand and Ashley Robertson.
To make sure the eggs dropped within 40 centimeters to the ground, Mrs. Legendre put up a white board with 40 centimeters marked which the eggs would drop in front of. Senior Kayley Jones sat in front of the board videotaping to make sure what they saw was right.
“I was freaking out before we dropped our egg because it was so suspenseful! We were just hoping we didn’t mess up the calculations!” said junior Lara Miller.
A. Robertson '12