As part of learning about dental hygiene and tooth decay, Form 4 investigated the effect of different liquids upon boiled eggs. Egg shells are made of a similar material to tooth enamel, so luckily we didn’t all have to donate teeth of our own! We placed individual eggs into six separate cups, each containing one liquid from: lemonade, water, vinegar, cola, orange juice and milk. We monitored the cups every day over the course of the week and were amazed to see that some of the shells began to decay into the liquids. Surprisingly, the eggs that decayed most were those in the vinegar and orange juice, whereas the eggs in the milk and the water were not changed at all.

The investigation might have been a bit smelly (especially the milk) but we enjoyed studying the effects over time. No more arguing with mum and dad about brushing before bed now class?