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Bullet through Bubble (Schlieren Method) © Kim Vandiver and Harold Edgerton
Major collection: Science & Technology
Named collection: Harold E. Edgerton Collection
Object type: negative
Maker: Vandiver, J(ohn) Kim; Edgerton, Harold Eugene
Date made: 1973
HEE-NC-73008
Named collection: Harold E. Edgerton Collection
Object type: negative
Maker: Vandiver, J(ohn) Kim; Edgerton, Harold Eugene
Date made: 1973
A soap bubble is pierced by a .22 caliber bullet, creating a shock wave. Different gasses were introduced into the bubbles in order to study the varying speed of sound through different media. The myriad refractions make the bubble resemble a living organism. The photograph required a highly complicated technique to make visible regions of varying refraction and varying density of air. Edgerton and his assistant Kim Vandiver used the schlieren interference method for this optical study. (see "Stopping TIme" (1987), p.137) (CC)
HEE-NC-73008