Document Dissolution by Augustus deCorbeau
December 16th, 2007 8:48 PMThe website even had a very nice explanation of the science behind what was going on:
When you submerge an egg in vinegar, the shell dissolves. Vinegar contains acetic acid, which breaks apart the solid calcium carbonate crystals that make up the eggshell into their calcium and carbonate parts. The calcium ions (ions are atoms that are missing electrons) float free, while the carbonate goes to make carbon dioxide—the bubbles that you see.
It took several days, but in the end I was successful!
For my running commentary, check out the descriptions on the photos, as well as the YouTube videos*.
After one day of submersion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGV3ImM91Xc
After two days of submersion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhMNnjkQ0hU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MdIHZG62i8
*Question: Is there a better way to include video proofs, besides just providing a link?
Materials:
Eggs. The eggs were won as a prize by a classmate of mine, but he didn't have a kitchen. I offered to put them to good use. Vinegar. 5% acidity Container big enough to submerge egg in. This wine glass was the perfect size. Also, in the background -- my first attempt at making sushi (with smoked eel). It turned out ok, I guess. Necessary to keep hungry experimenter from eating all the subject material.
Eggy!
I'm not sure why, but I decided to draw a face on the egg. Behold... Eggy, our brave test subject!
"Nooooo! Not Aciiiid!"
Eggy did not seem to enjoy being slowly submerged in acid. I felt a bit like a Bond villain.
"Glub. Glub. Glub."
After only a few minutes, bubbles started to form on the eggshell
"Let me ouuutttt!"
Cold Storage
Like any good Bond villain, I then proceeded to leave my capti-- err... test subject... entirely unattended. (This also kept the egg from going bad.)
The next day...
Lots of bubbles. I noticed that the egg would rotate as bubbles accumulated on the underside until the whole egg spun around and they escaped to the surface.
Pouring out the used vinegar
As calcium ions accumulated in the vinegar, it became less acidic, I think.
*poke*
After 24 hours, the shell is starting to become soft. Also, most of the sharpie ink has separated from the shell's surface. Or the surface has dissolved away from under the sharpie ink. Either way.
"Noooo! Not more aciiiiddd!"
Refilling the glass with fresh vinegar.
After 48 hours
The shell was pretty much completely dissolved, leaving only a gross white film.
Dissolution Complete!
After rinsing off the gross white residue, all that was left was the flexible inner membrane. The egg was translucent, and got its yellow color from the yolk inside.
Eggy's final fate:
Breakfast. I figured I couldn't let a perfectly good egg go to waste.
Yuck!
It tasted like... well, an egg that had been soaking in vinegar for two days. =P
The logical solution?
Add more vinegar! But, *good* vinegar. This white balsamic vinegar is delicious. And it took the edge off just enough to make the egg palatable.
Good to the last drop
After adding the balsamic vinegar, it was actually rather tasty. I sopped up the last of the yolk with a piece of rye bread. Experiment complete!
21 vote(s)
help im a bear
5
teucer
5
Frostbeard
5
Levitating Potato
5
Torsten the dissenter
5
Burn Unit
5
anna one
5
Spidere
5
susy derkins
5
Charlie Fish
5
Flitworth
5
Herbie Hatman
5
rongo rongo
5
High Countess Emily
5
Jack
5
Tøm
5
lara black
5
[smedly]
5
Lank
5
Cat A sTrophe
5
sami
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(none yet)10 comment(s)
cool trick. i like how it ended up looking once you dissolved the shell off. i imagine that it would've dissolved more rapidly outside of the fridge (increased interaction due to higher energy levels), and the vinegar prob would've kept it from going bad. i like that you ate it though.
My favorite part is when you "crack" it into the pan: for a moment it seems to simply disappear. Perhaps if you had lifted the membrane out when you cooked it some of the flavor would have been improved? Or had it penetrated all the way? Perhaps next time some additional flavors added to the vinegar? (dill, tarragon, thyme?) Oh, and lots and lots of butter.
Anyway, gross/cool vote!
For added coolness, demonstrate osmosis with the membrane that remains.
Alternately, once the shell is soft but before it completely dissolves, get the egg into a container it wouldn't normally fit into, while having it still look whole.
Frostbeard -- wouldn't the changes in solubility have a larger effect? Regardless, it would definitely be faster in warmer conditions. Or if mildly agitated, especially to help remove the bubbles.
This is world-class tasking! Drawing a face on the egg, and actually eating it, both very nice touches.
Thanks for the great comments, folks!
@ Frostbeard -- Yeah, I thought about that, but I wasn't sure how long the eggs had alreay been unrefrigerated before they came into my possession (since I had obtained them third-hand...). I also wanted to follow the "official instructions" from the Exploratorium, at least for this first attempt.
@ Burn Unit -- I think you may be right. The middle parts of the egg didn't taste as bitter as the edges. I'm wondering if the membrane normally sticks to the inside of the shell, so you wouldn't eat it when you cook an non-dissolved egg.
@ Levitating Potato -- That's a great idea! I think I know how to go about doing it, too...
Neat! Now I can't believe I've never experienced egg dissolution personally.
we vote for your thorough examination of the process involved in deconstructing a natural construction. and for you eating the egg - waste not want not!
priceless! the face on the egg was so expressive, and the excellent bond villain parallels made me smile (you're lucky your guy didn't escape while left to it's own devices in the fridge!).
posting video in a proof: if you click the little question mark in the tool bar at the top of the text entry field, you get a little pop out that has all the codes for posting images, video etc. i'm pretty sure for youtube videos it's just a set of square brackets surrounding:
youtube:www.whatevertheyoutubelinkis.com
very intuitive, but what else would you expect from ssi :)
That is pretty awesome! I too love the color of the finished egg and the fact that you ate it. :)
cooooooooool