Harold Edgerton Quiz: Strobe Flash and the Milk Drop Coronet

This harold edgerton quiz freezes motion faster than the eye can see. Play 10 interactive questions on Doc Edgerton of MIT, the electronic strobe flash, the Milk Drop Coronet of 1957, bullets through apples and playing cards, multiple-flash images of athletes, cameras for nuclear test explosions, sonar work with Jacques Cousteau and an Oscar for a short film.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

School
Where did Edgerton teach and research?
Nick
What was Edgerton's nickname?
Tool
Which device did he develop for photography?
Milk
What does Milk Drop Coronet show?
Year
When was Milk Drop Coronet made?
Apple
Which fruit did he photograph with a bullet passing through?
Card
What else did a bullet slice in a famous photo?
Nuke
What did Edgerton help photograph for the government?
Sea
With which ocean explorer did he work on sonar?
Oscar
Which award did a short film he worked on win?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Where did Edgerton teach and research?
Answer: MIT
In Massachusetts.
Q2: What was Edgerton's nickname?
Answer: Doc
Used by students.
Q3: Which device did he develop for photography?
Answer: The electronic strobe flash
Very short bursts of light.
Q4: What does Milk Drop Coronet show?
Answer: A crown-shaped splash of milk
Frozen in time.
Q5: When was Milk Drop Coronet made?
Answer: 1957
A famous print.
Q6: Which fruit did he photograph with a bullet passing through?
Answer: An apple
Exploding outward.
Q7: What else did a bullet slice in a famous photo?
Answer: A playing card
Edge-on.
Q8: What did Edgerton help photograph for the government?
Answer: Nuclear test explosions
Using the Rapatronic camera.
Q9: With which ocean explorer did he work on sonar?
Answer: Jacques Cousteau
Underwater imaging.
Q10: Which award did a short film he worked on win?
Answer: An Academy Award
Quicker'n a Wink.

Freezing Time With Light

Harold Edgerton, known to students as Doc, was a professor at MIT who developed the electronic strobe flash, producing extremely short bursts of light. These flashes froze motion too fast for the eye to see.

His 1957 photograph Milk Drop Coronet shows a crown-shaped splash of milk frozen in mid-air. He photographed bullets passing through apples and slicing playing cards, and made multiple-flash images of athletes in motion. A short film he worked on, Quicker'n a Wink, won an Academy Award.

Edgerton also helped photograph nuclear test explosions with the Rapatronic camera and worked with Jacques Cousteau on sonar and underwater imaging. His work joined science and art in unforgettable images.

What This Quiz Teaches

Science fans will enjoy these questions.

Where Edgerton worked
What he invented
Which photos are famous
Which projects he joined
Which award his film won

Did You Know?

Modern camera flashes owe much to him.
He loved teaching students.
His images appear in museums.
He also studied hummingbirds in flight.
MIT has a center named after him.