Why are eggs oval while fruits are round?

This question is indeed quite interesting. These phenomena are everywhere in daily life, but being able to explain the reasoning behind them is really not easy. Now let's hear Science Xingnong's analysis for you.

Since we've brought up round and oval shapes, let's first understand the difference between the two. Given the same perimeter, a circle has a larger area than an oval.

The same is true for volume! That is to say, when a hen's body produces a certain amount of eggshell material, if what is produced is an oval egg, it will save a bit more volume and space, and the hen's body can store more eggs.

In addition, under the same conditions, a round shape can withstand more force. Here's a little story: there was once a strongman, and people said to him, "Your strength may be great, but you can't crush a tiny egg." The strongman didn't believe it and tried, but no matter how hard he squeezed, it just wouldn't break.

This is due to the egg's curved structure. The curved structure evenly distributes the force applied across the entire egg, so the egg bears the force uniformly. In other words, part of the force your left hand applies to the egg is offset by the force from your right hand, so it is not easily crushed.

It is precisely because of this that eggs are not easily broken during laying, and after an egg falls to the ground, it is also not prone to rolling and breaking.

However, apples cannot be explained this way. The expansion of a fruit (apple) occurs through the fruit stalk delivering nutrients to the apple, and this nutrient solution is liquid in nature.

You have probably seen a syringe inject liquid, right? When pushing the liquid out, if only a small amount is ejected, observe carefully what the droplet looks like before it falls. It's round, right? Yes, it is indeed round. The difference, however, is that when the droplet is too large, it will fall. But as for fruits, due to the adhesion of plant tissues and intercellular structures, they will not scatter like droplets, but like the surface tension of a water drop, they present a round shape.