I will try to explain the way I did it in my engineering class, I was given the same material (2 sheets of newspaper) and 12" tape (not as much as I want). Professor asked me to create one without a parachute.
I made a "cone" out of one sheet of newspaper (like a rocket). Then I used the 2nd newspaper (cut them in pieces and made balls which I called "foam around the egg") to make a shell for the egg, so it doesn't break. The point of this was for the sharpest corner (if you are looking at a V ... you want the bottom of V to drop first) to touch the ground first. The egg was safely covered somewhere in the middle of the V. Once it hit the ground, of course the bottom of V shape messed up. But the egg was fine. I dropped it 3 times, once from 3rd floor, once from 4th floor, and once from 5th floor (not to mention with the same egg). It was a success. Since then, I never felt the urge to use parachute anymore.
Good luck with your project. I hope I was able to help even a bit (I hope you understood what I was trying to explain). If you need any help, please don't hesitate to send me a message on chiefdelphi or Aim.
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Originally Posted by Billfred
One of the sheets has to be a parachute. This is non-negotiable for success--there's no way to do it without slowing down the egg.
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I do have disagree with you Billfred on this topic. But I am not saying that you are wrong. You have your own way to do things, I have my own. I have made one (the way I explained) and it worked (it didn't break even after dropping from 5th floor), I didn't slow the egg down, it dropped as fast as it could. But the egg didn't even have a crack. As I explained above, You do have to make sure that the basket/cover/shell/whatever you want to call it is "comfy" enough for the egg to sit.
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Originally Posted by sciguy125
If you made a cone for the basket, it could act as a cushion if it crumples correctly. You'd have to somehow make sure that it falls point straight down.
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Agreed Phil. That is the key to this project. You HAVE to make sure that it falls pointing straight down. The sharp corner has to hit the ground first.
What I’m trying to say is that you should not necessarily be looking to build the next “cool” thing, unless that’s your team’s goal and you’ve got the resources to finish it by ship date. - Bill Gold [more] 
08-09-2005, 23:43
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