How to Insert an Egg into a Bottle

Place the egg in a pot filled with water. Use warm water to make it boil faster.

• You can boil multiple eggs to experiment several times, in case the first attempt doesn’t succeed.

Boil the water. Place the pot on the stove and set the heat to medium-high. Let it sit for about 20 minutes while the water boils.

Peel the egg. Pour the boiling water into the sink, being careful not to burn yourself. Use cold water to cool the egg, then peel it. You can tap the egg on the counter to crack the shell for easier peeling.

Position the bottle. Place the glass bottle upright with its mouth facing upward. This is the necessary setup for the experiment.

• Remember to use a glass bottle. Plastic bottles (or bottles made of non-glass materials) can be dangerous for this experiment.
• The bottle's mouth should be small but at least half the diameter of the egg (such as a milk bottle).

Light the matches. Carefully light 3 matches and drop them into the bottle. Wait for about 1-2 seconds.

Place the egg on the bottle's mouth. Quickly position the egg on top of the bottle, with the larger end facing up. Don’t wait too long to place the egg, or the matches will go out, and the experiment won’t work.

Watch the egg get sucked into the bottle. Once the matches go out, the egg will be pulled inside the bottle. Now you’ve amazed your friends by making the egg enter the bottle!

Insert birthday candles into one end of the egg. Stick 2-3 small birthday candles into the pointed end of a hard-boiled and peeled egg. Ensure the candles are secure but not pushed too deep to avoid cracking the egg.

Light the candles. Carefully (and under adult supervision) light the candles. The candles should ignite easily.

Place the burning candles into the upside-down bottle. Hold the bottle upside down over the burning candles, being careful not to let the egg seal the bottle's mouth for a few seconds. You need to allow the candles to heat the air inside the bottle first.

Watch the egg slide into the bottle. After a few seconds, lower the bottle so the egg seals the mouth completely. The candles may go out, but the egg will slip into the bottle in an instant.

Explain the experiment to your friends. This experiment works because the burning candles heat the air inside the bottle, and water vapor escapes due to combustion. This process causes the air inside the bottle to expand and partially escape.

• When the egg seals the bottle, the matches will quickly go out due to lack of air. As the temperature inside the bottle cools, the air volume decreases as water vapor condenses (observe the small “cloud” inside the bottle when the matches go out) and the dry air cools.
• When the air volume inside the bottle decreases, the pressure acting on the egg also decreases, while the external air pressure remains unchanged. The egg is pushed into the bottle when the difference between external and internal pressure is large enough to overcome the friction at the bottle's neck.

• To remove the egg from the bottle, check out another Mytour article.
• Usually, the egg remains intact when sucked into the bottle, but results may vary.
• Want to keep the shell on? Soak the egg in vinegar for 24 hours until the shell softens, then follow the instructions above. After another 24 hours, the shell will harden. You can even perform this trick with a raw egg.
• You can also demonstrate this with a balloon. Stretch the balloon's mouth over the bottle's opening, and it will inflate inside the bottle.
• Don’t wait too long after lighting the matches. They will go out.
• Apply oil to the egg's surface to help it slide into the bottle more easily.
• Rub butter on the egg for a smoother finish.