On February 26th, 2026, Clarkstown North physics students participated in the annual egg drop competition. The competition, which is a yearly highlight for students, applied physics principles of impulse and momentum when building their designs; according to the impulse-momentum theorem, the more time increases, the less average force is acted on the egg. Physics students have been building their devices since December out of only toothpicks and glue. Furthermore, the device could not weigh more than 60 grams, and at least one dimension had to have been at least 15 cm long. 

Raw eggs were placed inside the devices and were dropped from 15 feet above the ground. The physics students waited with anticipation to see their hard work come to life. After undergoing the test, the eggs were examined by the physics teachers on a scale of 1 (omelet) to 5 (no cracks). If the egg survived, the groups had time to repair and were stored away to be tested again against the X-Wing hallway for the chance to earn extra credit. 

“The physics egg drop competition will definitely be one of the highlights of my time in the class as well as my high school career,” remarked Paula Bajgierowicz ’27. “I hope to be an engineer when I am older, and this project confirmed that. In the end, my device survived as I was able to implement my classroom knowledge in real time.” 

The physics students did exceptionally well, with around a 50% average success rate all the way up to an 87% success rate. Whether or not an egg cracked, every group put in a tremendous amount of effort and creativity into their designs. Following the competition, students reflected on their experiences– including testing their designs, analyzing their current designs, and thinking about what to do for improvement.