So, his demonstration wasn't enough to settle the question of how much fussing, was too much. For the moment, Padraig kept his knee jerk response to himself, in order to indulge her. But in the wake of Faith's excitement, ultimately he couldn't keep a wry grin from tugging at the corner of his mouth. "That you did. Like a regular professor." He sounded serious at least. "But for now, we'll have to agree that because this is new territory, the exact measurements will need to be determined over time, by way of experimentation and trial and error."
What smile he'd worn though dissolved when she spoke about ownership. "To be honest I don't care much for either term. But should the need arise, then yes, owner it is," he agreed. "But you're right, nonetheless. Your emotions are your own. Your thoughts, none can enslave either of them. And while here at least, the two of us, you should never hesitate to speak your mind." It might not go over well elsewhere, he thought, perhaps not in front of others with stricter expectations. But the young man would prefer it to thinking she'd held back for views he simply didn't hold to himself.
As for the eggs, she had a point. Though it was one he'd thought about a little already. "For the purpose of this project we'll use eggs of similar weight and size. I've brought plenty, and it needn't be an exact science. The tension can be adjusted at any rate." As for cooking the egg? "That's easy, we're not going to break it. It'll drop into a pan of water, on the burner there, and we'll boil it." Not his favorite way of cooking eggs, but there was reason for the choice. "You see, this in itself will be an experiment, based on theory for the most part. Something interesting begins to happen when you heat water, or any other liquid." Quoting from his textbook, he expanded on what he meant. "Solubility decreases as temperatures rise. Particles begin to separate, expand, and air begins rising out of the water. Then, as the water begins to boil, vapor pockets begin to form. Bubbles."
"That part, my book tells me already. But I want to go further, and find out how the temperature of any body of water effects it's density. For instance, would cold water make for a harder landing, more resistance when the egg falls into it, than say, if it was warm or already boiling?" It was a question he hoped to answer, once they got that far.
So, onto building the contraption he'd drawn in his notebook. He took the flat piece of wood from the box, the hammer, the nails, the small saw, and began cutting dowels for the upright supports, the straight or curved rails in various sizes, and handed each to her as he went, so she could bind them all together based on his design. The cotton string he'd brought ought work nicely for that. "So we begin by placing the egg in the egg cup, here at the start," Padraig explained while they worked. He went on to detail the process, or how he hoped it would work. The egg cup itself was fixed onto a small wooden plate that would be attached to a smaller piece fixed into the first two supports. It would be hinged, so that once it reached the top, pulled there by the counterweight, it ought tilt gently and empty the egg out onto a shallow metal ashtray fixed on rollers between another set of wooden dowels that would act as a track that would spiral down nearly to the bottom of the apparatus. The change in the weight applied to the empty tray, the egg that was, ought put things into motion.
So there they had gravity, resistance, momentum, inertia, he explained. Then once the tray with the egg spiraled to the bottom, the tray would tilt and gently roll the egg into a small finger bowl, also padded at it's bottom. From there, it ought travel around and up a sort of water wheel device made out of dowels, till eventually reaching the top; all aided by another counterweight; where the edge of the bowl would catch on a bit of wood that would tilt it and have the egg rolling off a small slide, and plunging into the pot of water below. "Now, the part we'll need to watch is timing," Padraig added, noting a string at the bottom of the device that would extend from the start to the finish in a straight line. One end was attached to a place just below the egg cup, the other on a switch that would turn on the burner.
"The egg will move slowly, but as soon as it's placed in the cup, the burner will turn on and start heating the water. By the time it reaches the end and drops, the water should be boiling." Timing would need working out, and if he wanted to test his theory about the density and resistance at different temperatures, that too would require a little experimenting.
I'm not sure about the knowledge about particles... Idalos knows lots about science but I think we should be wary when talking about particles. Maybe just avoid going into specific detail. We only discovered them 100 years ago ourselves, after all! I have listed some scientific things that Viden discovered, which should give you an idea of where we're at. If you want to add anything to the list, let me know!