[tortoise]

Hi,
My friend has given me this question, and I can't answer it. Please help me.

You were told that calcium carbonate as the main component in egg shells provide the protection that the food store or even the animal inside needs. You realise that there are white egg shells and brown egg shells, you are asked to determine if there is greater protection provided by white egg shells or brown egg shells.

This tests your analytical skills ( that is in theory).

I don't know much about analytical chemistry.

Thanks in advance.

[Alberto_Kravina]

Try to put an egg shell in vinegar!

[tortoise]

Yeah, but what then?

[billnotgatez]

tortoise and Alberto_Kravina

This sounds like one of those questions they give out on test to show your analytical skills and not practical skills. This might not even be a true chemistry question.  In any case there may be several correct answers depending on how well they are defended and a laboratory is not present to help.

[tortoise]

Thank you, but, can you give me some ways to answer to this test?

[Dude]

This is posed as a logic problem.  If calcium carbonate "protects" the egg, than the shell with more calcium carbonate would seem to be better at protecting the egg.  Find a way to measure either the carbonate content or calcium content.  Acid degrades carbonate to CO2.  Measuring the volume liberated would provide a ballpark measure of the carbonate content.

Oxygen permeation through an eggshell is also quite interesting.

[Alberto_Kravina]

I'd say that a quantitative gravimetric analysis of calcium is better than measuring the volume of the gas.

[Mitch]

I assume a qualitative measure of egg-shell hardness after x amount of time in vinegar is to simple.

[billnotgatez]

I am still at odds with this question and really do not know how to approach it. Do you take a position and defend it? Do you just set up a regimen to get the results? In either case this is a trick question in a sense. Going to web sites about eggs their answer is as follows.

http://www.aeb.org/LearnMore/EggFacts.htm
http://www.afn.org/~poultry/flkman4.htm

"Egg shell and yolk color may vary, but color has nothing to do with egg quality, flavor, nutritive value, cooking characteristics or shell thickness."

It goes on to say that other environmental factors (diet etc.) determine the quality of the eggshell.

So again I could several different answers

As a side note I remember these answers to questions posed that were nebulous in the humor section of this forum.

http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?board=14;action=display;threadid=2543
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?board=14;action=display;threadid=37