An Approximate Method of Calculating the Surface Area of Eggs

In connection with recent studies on the relationship between the hatching quality and various physical characteristics of hens’ eggs, it became necessary to find some simple approximate method of deducing the surface areas of eggs from a knowledge of their weights alone. The method arrived at may prove useful to other investigators faced by similar problems and is briefly summarized in the following note. The method is based on the theorem that the surfaces of solids of similar shapes vary as the two-thirds powers of their volumes. In the case of eggs, the specific gravity is so nearly constant (Pearl and Surface, 1914) that in the above relationship weight may be substituted for volume without involving any serious error or (1)S1S2=W12/3W22/3 where S1 and S2 represent surfaces and W1 and W2 represent weights. The ratio between surface area and weight2/3 in such solids is therefore a constant, or (2)K=SW2/3 where K represents . . .