So, thanks to a science book and kit, the kids love doing science stuff (like any kid would if given half a chance). Their experiment this time was rather smelly. And I mean that in the best pickled-pigs-feet kinda smell possible. They started out the experiment with an egg. Since we have our own chickens they decided to use a brown egg, "to see it better." Ok, no problem. So into the glass went the egg. And then into the glass went enough vinegar to cover the egg plus a little more. Overnight there were some definite changes.
The egg was covered in bubbles, as if it was sitting in boiling water. And the bubbles were rather rapidly rising and dissipating, only to have many more follow. It was really like watching the egg boil itself. That evening, at the approximate 24 hour mark, the vinegar was drained off to be replaced with new vinegar. And now the real waiting began. Now it would sit for a week.
At the three day mark there were some more cool changes. The most obvious being the color had completely leeched from the shell and was in threads over the egg. The bubbles continued. And the egg was starting to swell slightly.
At the end of the week, the bubbles had completely stopped. The egg had swollen up to what seemed like twice it's size. And the shell was completely gone. All that was left keeping the egg from running everywhere was the thin "skin" that is between the shell and the egg. Pretty cool! I'm not sharing a picture of the shell-less egg, you will need to do the experiment to see it.
