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Egg Drop Challenge — Bubble Wrap Layers
There is no fixed layer count that saves an egg. A repeatable classroom start, from a Sciencing build updated 30 Aug 2022, is cotton around the egg, two layers of bubble wrap, and a small box lined with sponge. Leave room so the egg can shift. Then drop it from the height your class actually uses, open the box, and change one thing at a time. No public source supplies a chart of survival by layer.
A two-layer start
- Wrap the egg in cotton so the shell is not bare.
- Add two layers of bubble wrap. Do not pull the wrap tight. Tight wrap stops the bubbles from deforming.
- Line a box about four inches on a side with sponge.
- Set the wrapped egg inside with space around it, and tape the box without crushing the wrap.
- Drop from more than one height. Check the egg after each drop and replace crushed wrap.
| Material | Role in the published builds | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Bubble wrap | Deforms and stretches the impact out over time | Sciencing |
| Cotton | First layer on the shell and a gap filler | Sciencing |
| Sponge | Lines the box walls | Sciencing |
| Small box and tape | Limits how far the egg travels inside | Sciencing |
| Parachute, sheet, string | Slows the fall before impact | NASA guide |
| Paper, straws, cartons | Ordinary structure materials in the engineering cycle | NASA guide |
Why layers are not a percentage
The impact gets smaller when the stop takes longer and when the egg is not the first thing to hit the floor. Drop height, egg orientation, wrap thickness, and box stiffness all change the result. A layer-versus-survival table is absent from the sources I opened, so this page has no 20, 60, or 85 percent column. Schools also disagree on whether a parachute is allowed. Write the rule your teacher posted instead of importing one.
NASA's Eggstronaut Parachute Challenge, for grades 5–12, asks students to slow the egg with a parachute and to sketch forces. Mark Rober's 27 May 2015 video, 9 minutes 48 seconds, walks through design ideas; its link is in Sources below.
Questions
How many layers of bubble wrap can save an egg?
There is no single number. One published classroom build wraps the egg in cotton, adds two layers of bubble wrap, and sets it in a small sponge-lined box, then drops it from several heights.
Does a parachute replace the wrap?
NASA's Eggstronaut guide uses a parachute to slow the fall. It is a different design from the two-layer wrap. No single public test gives a combined success percentage.
Is this the Roblox game?
No. If you wanted HatchLabs' Save an Egg on Roblox, use the link at the bottom of this page.
Sources
- Sciencing egg-drop container — checked 2026-11-02
- NASA Eggstronaut educator guide — checked 2026-11-02
- Mark Rober egg-drop video — checked 2026-11-02