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Sonic Booms
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You
can learn a lot about sonic booms by
looking at the wakes boats leave in the water.
If
you toss a pebble in a pond, little waves will form in concentric circles and propagate away
from the point of impact.
If
a boat travels through the pond at 3 to 5 miles per hour, little waves will
propagate in the same way both ahead of and behind the boat, and the boat will
travel through them.
If
a boat travels faster than the waves can propagate through water, then the
waves "can't get out of the way" of the boat fast enough, and they
form a wake.
A
wake is a larger single wave. It is formed out of all the little waves that
would have propagated ahead of the boat but could not.
When
an airplane travels through the air, it produces sound
waves.
If
the plane is traveling slower than the speed
of sound (the speed of sound varies, but 700 mph is typical through
air), then sound waves can propagate ahead of the plane.
If
the plane breaks the sound barrier and flies faster than the speed of sound, it
produces a sonic boom when it flies past.
The
boom is the "wake" of the plane's sound waves.
All
of the sound waves that would have normally propagated ahead of the plane are
combined together so at first you hear nothing, and then you hear the boom they
create.
It
is just like being on the shore of a smooth lake when a boat speeds past.
There
is no disturbance in the water as the boat comes by, but eventually a large
wave from the wake rolls onto shore.
When
a plane flies past at supersonic speeds the exact same thing happens, but
instead of the large wake wave, you get a sonic boom.
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