Science Explains Why Rotten Eggs Float

Science Explains Why Rotten Eggs Float One of the ways to tell whether an egg is rotten or still good is to use the flotation test. To perform the test, you place the egg in a glass of water. Fresh eggs typically rest at the bottom of the glass. An egg that sinks but rests with the large end facing up may be a bit older but is still fine for cooking and eating. If the egg floats, its old and may be rotten. You can test this for yourself, although to be scientific about it, youll need to crack open the egg to observe its appearance and smell it to be certain eggs are good or bad (trust me, youll know the bad ones). Youll find the test is fairly accurate. So, you may be wondering why the bad eggs float. Why Bad Eggs Float Fresh eggs sink because the egg yolk, egg white, and gases have enough mass that the density of the egg is greater than the density of water. Density is the mass per unit of volume. Basically, a fresh egg is heavier than water. When an egg starts to go off decomposition occurs. Decomposition gives off gases. As more of the egg decomposes, more of its mass is converted to gases. A gas bubble forms inside the egg so an older egg floats on its end. However, eggs are porous, so some of the gas escapes through the eggshell and is lost to the atmosphere. Although gases are light, they do have mass and affect the density of the egg. When enough gas is lost, the density of the egg is less than that of water and the egg floats. Its a common misconception that rotten eggs float because they contain more gas. If the inside of an egg rotted and the gas couldnt escape, the mass of the egg would be unchanged. Its density would also be unchanged because the volume of an egg is constant (i.e., eggs dont expand like balloons). Changing matter from the liquid state to the gas state doesnt change the amount of mass! The gas has to leave the egg for it to float. Gas With a Rotten Egg Smell If you crack open a rotten egg, the yolk may be discolored and the white may be cloudy rather than clear. More likely, you wont notice the color because the overwhelming stink of the egg will send you off to go throw up. The smell is from the gas hydrogen sulfide (H2S). The gas is heavier than air, flammable, and toxic.   Brown Eggs vs. White Eggs You may be wondering whether it matters if you try the flotation test on brown eggs versus white eggs. The results will be the same. There is no difference between brown eggs and white eggs except for their color, assuming the chickens were fed the same grain. Chickens with white feathers and white earlobes lay white eggs. Brown or red chickens that have red earlobes lay brown eggs. The egg color is controlled by a gene for eggshell color that does not affect the thickness of the shell. There are also chicken eggs with blue shells and some with speckled shells. Again, these are simple color differences that do not affect the structure of the eggshell or the result of the flotation test. Egg Expiration Dates The expiration date on a carton of eggs isnt always a good indicator of whether or not the eggs are still fresh. In the United States, the USDA requires egg expiration dates be no longer than 30 days from the packing date. Unrefrigerated eggs may not make it the full month before going off. Refrigerated eggs are more likely to dry up than go bad. The pores of egg shells are small enough bacteria arent going to enter the egg and start reproducing. However, some eggs naturally contain a small number of bacteria, which are more likely to grow in a warmer, more favorable environment. Its worth noting the rotten egg smell isnt just from bacterial decomposition of an egg. Over time, the egg yolk and egg white become more alkaline. This occurs because eggs contain carbon dioxide in the form of carbonic acid. Carbonic acid slowly escapes the egg as carbon dioxide gas that passes through the pores in the shell. As the egg becomes more alkaline, the sulfur in the egg becomes better able to react with hydrogen to form hydrogen sulfide gas. This chemical process occurs more rapidly at room temperature than at cooler temperatures. Another Way to Tell If an Egg Is Bad If you dont have a glass of water handy, you can test an egg for freshness by holding it up to your ear, shaking it, and listening. A fresh egg shouldnt make much sound. An older egg will slosh around more because the gas pocket is larger (giving it room to move) and the egg has lost some cohesion.

Top 9 Practical Hacks That Will Help You Get a Job Via LinkedIn

Top 9 Practical Hacks That Will Help You Get a Job Via LinkedIn You hear it from all of your job search experts: leverage your LinkedIn profile! Build your network for job search success! And those are absolutely true- these days, LinkedIn is a necessary tool for any job hunt. But the question is, how do you turn your LinkedIn profile into a lean, mean, opportunity-generating machine? Let’s look at 9 LinkedIn profile hacks that can boost your job search like crazy.1. Bulk Up Your Profileâ€Å"Fill in your profile† may seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many people just fill in the basic outlines, thinking they’ll go back later and do the rest, and never quite get around to it. Meanwhile, recruiters and hiring managers are searching LinkedIn, and you want your name to pop up for tailor-made opportunities.Make sure you’re including these elements in your profile, at a bare minimum:A Professional PicPick a headshot that’s flattering, and professional enough that you wouldn’t mind havin g your mom, your boss, or the HR rep at your dream company see it. Yes, your pet is awesome, but your selfie with Mr. Fluffypants the iguana is better-suited to your (private) Facebook page. If you can, get a professional photographer (or at least your cousin who’s perpetually trying to get that photography business off the ground) to take your picture.A 1-2 Sentence Mission StatementThis is your elevator pitch. It’s a quick summary of your professional identity/brand. Be creative- don’t just recycle your job title. You want it to be short, sweet, and chock full of keywords that are important to your industry.Your Personalized URLAll LinkedIn users get a generic URL. But did you know that you can also get one that’s shorter and more personalized? While you’re editing your profile, select the Edit link next to your public profile, and you’ll have the option to select a new URL. Again, keep it professional, and use your name. And if you happen to have a common name, keep the variation as simple as you can. This is not the spot to add creative words like â€Å"ninja† or â€Å"rockstar.†Your Job HistoryThis is important for two reasons: a) your LinkedIn profile is like a living, breathing resume that you can update as often as you want; and b) LinkedIn uses the data in your profile to forge links with companies and other users. You want this section to be as up to date and comprehensive as possible, to increase your networking opportunities.Education SummaryLike the job history, your education information can help boost your natural networking opportunities. You can select school, course of study, and any activities you too part in while there. This helps build connections that you might not have been able to get to otherwise. For example, I went to a very large state university, and knew only a small fraction of my graduating class. I also tend to hit â€Å"delete† automatically on alumni bulletins in my inbox. But via LinkedIn, I’ve gotten more insight into classmates I never even knew existed, and can see how our careers fit together, even if we never crossed paths back on campus.Special SkillsThis is a great place to showcase skills that you’ve picked up along the way, even if you don’t use them in your current position. This section also allows your connections to weigh in and â€Å"endorse† you, showing how awesome you are at said skills.ExperienceThis is the longer version of your headline, including context information that you want potential employers to see. You don’t need to go into every responsibility you’ve had at every job, but you have 2000 characters to create a pretty solid collection of your greatest hits.Your profile should look and read professional, but that doesn’t mean you can’t let your personality shine through. Witty and clever is good- but again, don’t go overboard. You want someone to be a ble to â€Å"get† you at a glance, not just your summary of accomplishments.2. Get InvolvedOnce you’ve set up your profile, don’t just walk away and wait for people and opportunities to come to you. Be a good community member- that means looking for connections, endorsing others, and interacting with others as much as possible on the platform. It shows that you’re engaged and personable.If you join groups in LinkedIn, that lets you send messages directly to second- and third-degree connections, so this is a very useful tool to have.3. Know What to Leave OutSpambots love public social media profiles, so don’t post your personal email address in any of the public fields unless you want to be weeding out weird spam messages for the rest of eternity. Anyone who reads your profile and wants to get in touch via the LinkedIn platform can do it without having MeMyselfAndI95@hotmail.com in the headline. You want your LinkedIn profile to be complete, but you don’t need to go overboard.Your LinkedIn profile doesn’t have to march in lockstep with your other profiles and job search materials. For example, your resume and your LinkedIn profile should be a bit different.4. Build Your Rep In Your FieldWhile you’re off being a good LinkedIn citizen and recommending people in your network, also work on answering questions in your field (assuming you know the answers- don’t make stuff up just for the sake of getting your name out there, because you also don’t want to undermine your professional credibility). Answering questions helps get your name out in your industry’s circles. And who knows- maybe something you post will go LinkedIn viral, and you’ll gain exposure to people in your field that you wouldn’t otherwise have been able to reach.5. Keep It CurrentUpdate your status daily, if you can- or at the very least, a few times a week. The key to LinkedIn success is engaging with the plat form as much as you can, so that you’re maximizing your information and your connections. When you update, don’t default to things like â€Å"here are my thoughts on this political thing,† or â€Å"here’s what I’m doing for dinner tonight.† Post an update that’s relevant to your work or your skills, so that your target market sees you’re committed to your professional brand. For example: â€Å"Just attended a great webinar on productivity, and am excited to try out Steve’s 4 Steps to Productive Greatness.†6. Use KeywordsThis is especially helpful in your â€Å"Skills† section. If your industry has a very specific set of skills, make sure you list them- that is, if you actually have them. It would be pretty easy to disprove that you’re not fluent in Italian and Swahili, no matter what your LinkedIn profile says. If you’re looking for a job in social media, make sure you’re listing all th e platforms you’re familiar with, and keep the section updated as new ones come out.7. Work Your LinkedIn Profile Into Your Application PackageLinkedIn has the potential to be a more dynamic tool than, say, your resume. Once you hit â€Å"send† on your resume or print it out for an interview, that’s it. No changes for this particular job application. But if you include your LinkedIn profile URL (remember that personalized URL we talked about?) with your contact info on your resume header, then your reader can go and find out all the wonderful extra information about you, your experience, and your skills beyond what fits in the short-and-sweet resume version.8. Spy On YourselfIf you use the LinkedIn app, you can search anonymously, but still see who’s been reading your profile. So if you can see that someone from XYZ company was interested in your profile, you can add some custom keywords, skills, or information to better appeal.9. Save Your SearchesLinked In has a â€Å"save searches† function, which can help you keep track of specific job keywords or listings that you’re interested in seeing. You can also set up alerts that let you know when these keywords pop up, so that you’re not obsessively reviewing your searches all the time (unless, of course, you want to).No matter how you look at it, LinkedIn has the potential to be an MVP in your job search. You get to decide how much (or how little) you want to interact with it, but the more you use it to your advantage, the more rewards you’ll get from the platform and the people and companies who rely on it to find great people for open jobs. Good luck, and happy linking!