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    Home » Science Experiments for Kids » Parachute Egg Drop Experiment – Gravity and Air Resistance

    Parachute Egg Drop Experiment – Gravity and Air Resistance

    July 19, 2019 By Emma Vanstone 9 Comments

    This fun parachute egg drop experiment is a great demonstration of the forces acting on parachutes. If you drop something it falls to the ground. This is because it is pulled by the gravity of the Earth. You’ll notice that some things drop faster than others, this is because of air resistance. Try dropping a piece of paper and a lego brick. Which drops the fastest?

    We are going to try dropping an egg on its own, dropping an egg attached to a parachute and an egg in a basket under a balloon.

    Egg Drop Experiment

    instructions for an egg drop parachute experiment

    How to make an egg parachute

    What you need to make a parachute

    • Bin bag/ plastic sheet/paper or other flat material.
    • 4 pieces of string
    • sellotape or masking tape
    • 3 eggs ( we boiled ours )

    Parachute Instructions

    • Lay the bin bag out flat and cut out a big square.
    • Make a hole in each corner, thread a piece of string though it and tie a knot.
    • Tie all 4 pieces of string together and sellotape the egg to the bottom

    Make Your Own Air Balloon

    Air Balloon Materials

    • Cardboard made into a basket shape or a small plastic container
    • Balloon blown up
    • 4 pieces of String

    Air Balloon Instructions

    • Sellotape some string to your balloon and attach the basket.
    • Place the egg in the basket
    Balloon parachute! Fun gravity experiment for kids  - science for kids

    Drop an egg on its own, the egg in the basket and the egg in the parachute from somewhere high up. Make sure an adult is around to help with this part.

    Egg in a container for a parachute and egg experiment for kids

    Gravity and Air Resistance Explained

    If you tried dropping paper and a lego brick or similar, the paper should have dropped to the floor more slowly than the brick, this is because the paper has a larger surface area, so has to push against more air as it drops, which means the air resistance is greater and it drops more slowly.

    A egg dropped without anything to slow it down will fall fast and break, the parachute and balloon add air resistance slowing the fall, and stopping the egg from breaking.

    We also found that the parachute fell much more slowly than the balloon. This is because the parachute has a larger surface area than the balloon and so slows the descent of the egg more.

    If we dropped a hammer and a feather we would expect the hammer to fall fastest, however if we did this on the moon where there  is no air resistance they would hit the ground at the same time!

    How do Parachutes Work?

    As we explained above two forces act on an object as it falls. Gravity pulls the object down and air resistance slows the fall.

    Parachutes are used to slow the fall of an object by increasing air resistance which reduces the effect of gravity!

    More parachute investigation Ideas

    Record the time taken for all three to drop and see how much slower the parachute is.

    Try our experiments you can make fly.

    Try different sizes of parachute and see which drops more slowly.

    Try our collection of easy ideas for learning about forces too.

    In This IS Rocket Science we made parachutes with coffee filters which was great fun and you can experiment with different sizes and shapes.

    Coffee Filter Parachute - children dropping a parachute made from a coffee filter

    If you liked this science experiment you’ll LOVE my book This IS Rocket Science which has 70 space themed science experiments for kids!

    This post was originally published in 2011 and updated July 2019

    Last Updated on May 21, 2022 by Emma Vanstone

    « How to make the perfect sandcastle
    Moon Phase Cupcakes »

    Safety Notice

    Science Sparks ( Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd ) are not liable for the actions of activity of any person who uses the information in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. Science Sparks assume no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information and carrying out the practical activities contained in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources.

    These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Chris at Thinly Spread

      September 11, 2011 at 8:49 am

      Fab. Really well explained!

      Reply
      • ScienceSparks

        September 14, 2011 at 10:11 pm

        Thank you. xx

        Reply
      • leah

        October 28, 2013 at 12:44 am

        cool video but it didn’t answer my question

        Reply
    2. Phyllis at All Things Beautiful

      September 11, 2011 at 3:03 pm

      You always make science fun!

      Reply
      • ScienceSparks

        September 14, 2011 at 10:10 pm

        Thank you, we do try!

        Reply
    3. Ticia

      September 11, 2011 at 7:59 pm

      That is cool. Did the egg break when you did that? Nevermind I saw the answer when I reread it.

      THanks for linking up this week!

      Reply
      • ScienceSparks

        September 14, 2011 at 10:10 pm

        Thank you for hosting such a great link up. x

        Reply
    4. maggy, red ted art

      September 14, 2011 at 2:16 pm

      Love how you make science fun and bring it into the home… Did you know I did Physics A-Levels? Well, this will come in handy with my kids! 🙂

      Thanks for sharing on Kids Get Crafty!

      Maggy

      Reply
    5. Mrs Abica

      June 10, 2016 at 9:08 am

      This website is very good in my school all the year 5 used it to make a paacute for there topic ‘Wacky races’ thank you for making it

      Reply

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