How long does it take to freeze an egg solid? On Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at 8:00 A.M., some of Mrs. Goebel’s TAG students took advantage of the bitter cold weather to perform an experiement. The students participating were: Ellie, Isaac, Spencer, Arielle, and Kolton. They wanted to see how long it would take an egg to freeze. Prior to the experiment, students hypothesized or predicted how long they thought it might take. Ellie was the recorder and documented all data---at 8 o’clock the experiment began, the real air temperature outside was -10 degrees F., the windchill -28 degrees F. with an 8 mph wind, and the dew point was -17. Arielle, the egg cracker, broke the raw egg on a slab of asphalt pavement near the playground as Kolton, the timer, started the clock. Within a minute, Spencer, Isaac, and the rest of the students observed the clear part of the egg instantly turning white and froze. After watching the egg for approximately five minutes, we returned to the classroom to quickly warm-up and discuss what we did and saw. Upon returning to the site, students noticed the North side of the egg yolk seemed to be frozen. They tapped it with a chisel...sure enough...hard. The South side had a slight give to the touch. Mrs. Goebel asked, “Why would that be?” They thought, and said, “Because the wind is coming from the North, hitting that side first” Great thinking! After a couple more minutes, each student took the chisel and tapped (pounded) it again...the experiment concluded. How long does it take to freeze an egg solid?.........egg-actly...17 minutes, 57 seconds.
