Video Transcript
A student learns that fresh eggs are denser than old and rotten ones. They drop five eggs in water to determine their ages. The figure describes the results of their experiment. Which egg is the freshest?
The figure shows the student’s experiment to test the ages of five eggs. The student is using a property of matter to compare the eggs. Matter is anything that has mass and volume. These five different-aged eggs are the matter that is being compared. We must use the results in the figure to determine which is the freshest egg.
The student is comparing the eggs’ densities. Density is a property of matter. Density is a measure of an object’s mass divided by its volume. The eggs are all dropped in water, and water has a density of one gram per cubic
centimeter. Based on the eggs’ behavior in water, the student can determine if the eggs are fresh
or old. Fresh eggs will be more dense, while old and rotten eggs will be less dense. The density of the eggs can be compared to that of water by dropping them in the
glasses of water. Fresher eggs are more dense and will sink in water. Old and rotten eggs with a density less than that of water will float.
Let’s have a look at how the five eggs float or sink in water. Since we are looking for the freshest egg, we must identify which egg is the densest
and thus sinks the lowest in water. We can see that egg two is the egg that sinks all the way to the bottom of the glass
of water. Since we can assume that egg two is the most dense, it is likely the freshest
egg. Therefore, the egg that is the freshest is egg two.
