Last night I tried to balance an egg, without success. Part of my problem was that I did not have enought patience. I am wondering if anyone who is able to regularly balance eggs have any tips.

Is it better to use an egg straight out of the fridge, or should I let it warm up to room temperature?

Does the surface that I place the egg on make a difference?

Any help would be appreciated as I would like to try this neat trick.

Finally, just out of curiosity Bad Astronomer, have you ever balanced eggs other than chicken eggs?

__________________
Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.

--Niels Bohr, Danish Physicist.

It's really pretty easy, once you get it once or twice. The surface probably makes a difference, if you're on something very smooth (laminate countertop) versus something more granular (tile). Look for an egg with some roughness on the fat end, that will help. I've usually taken them directly form the fridge, so I don't know what warming would do, although I can't see how it would make much difference.
The first time I balanced one I yelled for my husband to come see what I had done. He was thoroughly unimpressed. Good luck.

You're a few days too late. Now you'll have to wait until spring.

__________________
Life is like a box of chocolates. All of your choices are bad for you.

After reading what the BA had to say about it, I decided to have a go. I actually succeeded in balancing an egg on both its ends in succession within two minutes. As Columbus once said, "it's easy to do once you know that someone else has already done it."

__________________
- Learn a lot teaching others.

Pull out a whole carton of eggs, and if it takes more than a minute for an egg, move on to the next egg.

I would describe how I do it, but it would be hard without images. Maybe I'll get my wife to take some images of me standing an egg, and I'll write a "how-to" page. I'll try to have it ready by March.

You could always use a small pile of salt, balance the egg on it and blow away the extra.

cheating, but the camera can't tell. :-)

Thanks for the help, but Humphrey I do not want to cheat in this experiment.

I am about to go shopping, so I will buy a new carton of eggs and try when I get home.

__________________
Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.

--Niels Bohr, Danish Physicist.

Use both hands.

I balanced one on a crooked counter the other day. My brother came into the room and blew at it and then clapped trying to make it fall. It didn't.

Has anybody ever tried to balance an egg on another egg?

[edited to add question]

__________________
h00!

I've seen a guy balance bowling balls on top of bowling balls...

__________________
Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

I am one of the bad people out there who only did it on the day of the equinox and didn't after! ops: It was in a National Geographic for Kids or something like that as one of their "try this!" activities. Later when I actually learned this doesn't actually work the fact that it was essentially endorsed by the National Geographic Society worried me a bit.

__________________
Yes, I have a life. It's quite different from yours.

There should be some easy-to-make device that holds the eggs while a rubber wheel, or something similar, spins the egg enough for it to stand up at least for the duration of the picture (quick exposure if you intend to fool anyone). Naturally, you would want the energy of the angular momentum to equal the energy you would normally have during the equinox. No doubt, you will need the most rpm during the solstice. Preferably, close to the winter solstice (about egg nog time).

__________________
Lighten up! This is a stellar board! Author: duh.

"The Sun, with all the planets revolving around it, and depending on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as though it had nothing else in the universe to do..." Author: Galileo supposedly.

Mmmmmm...scrambled eggs...ararhghrghghagrhagrhh.

I did this, took a picture. (I'd put it up somewhere but I had a nasty case of atopic dermatitis at the time, so I'm too vain)

You can do it on the right surface with a little patience. I've done the two billiard balls trick too, but they were a little dented :-)

There is however a way to make it much, much easier. The yolk is heavier than the white, but it's suspended in the middle of the egg. If you shake the egg vigorously (splat! ) the yolk comes loose and sinks to the bottom, and then balancing is easy.

You don't even have to shake it vigorously. Just swing it around "bottom down" (the broad part down) and the yolk will settle. I can usually get one to balance pretty quickly.

The first time I ever ran into this "belief" was when I worked at the Denver Post. I was not a reporter at the time, but a lowly editorial assistant. I came in one day to hear one of the senior editors bloviating about how you could only balance an egg on the equinox. One of the science writers pooh-poohed the idea and suddenly the newsroom was egg-mad. I was sent down to the corner store to buy a carton of eggs and a whole morning was blown by editors trying to balance eggs on their desks. It was funny, but in the end the senior editor had to admit that it could be done any time (since we were doing it in February, some weeks before the vernal equinox).

__________________
Starry, starry night...

My site TheSpacewriter.com
and my blog: TheSpaceWriter's Ramblings

I have plans to edit the web page for the upcoming equinox. Maybe I'll include a "how-to" page, with pictures. I've developed a pretty good method, like how to hold my hands, etc.

I've balanced scrambled eggs on the equinox.
(I believe in starting easy.)


(kidding...just kidding...)

They're really easy to balance if you remove the shell. There's usually this large, somewhat flat section on one end that lends itself to the egg being stood up.

IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTE: this only works with hard-boiled eggs. 8-[

__________________
A person's name, or a mark representing it, as signed personally or by deputy, as in subscribing a letter or other document.

Punny article, heavily quoting the BA

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

http://www.ajc.com/living/content/li...20equinox.html

__________________
"Flying in space is risky business, but just staying on this planet is risky business too." - John Young, astronaut

I never heard about this whole standing eggs thingy before reading it on the BA website. So I never even considered if eggs would be easier to stand on some days of the year... I guess it just isn't tradition to do so here...

__________________
Game over, you lose, we hope you enjoyed playing the exciting game of Thermodynamics...

In the image in the book it looked like he did it on a smooth surface becasue the eggs reflected off the surface... :-?