Can you really balance an egg during the equinox?

Each year as either the vernal or autumnal equinox approaches, we hear about the claim that only on these days you can balance an egg on its end.

The vernal or autumnal equinox are the two days of the year when night and day are at equal length, and they mark the beginning of spring and autumn respectively. A long running urban legend claims that only on these days can one successfully balance an egg on its end due to some unnamed or unrecognised attribute that these days possess.

Some vaguely state the equinox brings with it a restoration of balance (day and night balancing out) after a state of either darkness or light (depending on which equinox it is) and as such the days possess a special yet intangible ‘balancing’ quality that allows one to stand an egg – amongst other things – on its end, when this would not normally be possible on any other day of the year.

Why specifically eggs always find themselves entwined with this legend is also somewhat ambiguous. Many point to the long-standing symbolic nature of the egg – a symbol of fertility and rebirth – and as such a “perfect” representation of nature being in harmony. Or perhaps more pragmatically it is simply because it is difficult (yet possible) to balance an egg on its end (the legend would fail to stand up to scrutiny much faster if the subject of the claim was rather easy to balance on its end.)

With that said, variations of the legend have recently moved on to brooms, and other long standing pieces of folklore have connected egg balancing to the Chinese lunar new year.

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Whatever variation of the legend you encounter or whatever justification used to “prove” the claim, the properties of an equinox have nothing to do with egg balancing. Perhaps an episode of Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing said it best… the elements involved with creating an equinox have no connection with the centre of gravity of an egg.

Indeed they don’t. And if there was any lingering doubt, any number of online videos painstakingly demonstrating successful egg balancing on non-equinox days of the year should be the final nail in the coffin concerning the legitimacy of this legend.

The takeway is this – yes, you can balance an egg on its end during either equinox. But with equal patience, skill and determination, you can do it on any other day of the year as well.