(Source: Xinhua)

A lot of people have heard the story of the Italian navigator Christopher Columbus making the egg stand on the table. He gently knocked the egg onto the table and made it stand. Of course, the audience did not buy this plain trick, although Columbus’ intention was to show that the problem is that these smart people hadn’t done it before him, thus combating the idea that his discovery of the New World was completely by accident.

In China, it is said that the egg can be set on the date of the Start of Spring, besides on the annual Autumn Equinox day. Some people can set the egg in a real sense, other than using Columbus’ method. It is believed that if someone can make the egg stand on the date of Start of Spring, he will have good luck in the future. In the West, some people believe that it is easy to set the egg erect on the Spring Equinox.

However, according to astronomers and physicists, setting the egg has nothing to do with time, but with mechanics.

The most important thing is to shift the egg’s center of gravity to the lowest part of the egg. In this way, the trick is holding the egg until the yolk sinks as much as possible. For this, you should choose an egg about 4 or 5 days old, whose yolk is inclined to sink down.

In addition, the shell surface is not smooth. If there are three appropriates on the surface, the chassis can serve as a tray to hold up the whole egg.

By Wen Yi & Zhang Min