Sonic boom phenomenon occurs when an aircraft breaks the sound barrier and travels faster than the speed of sound. The sonic boom causes a large amount of sound energy and sounds like an explosion to the human ear. Sometimes the sonic boom created by supersonic aircraft is so loud that it may cause damage to some structures.
Another inquiry we ran across in our research was “When does a person experience a sonic boom?”.
One thought is that a sonic boom is a loud noise which is produced when an object displaces air so quickly that it forms a shock wave. Some examples of things which can cause sonic booms include: lightning, the space shuttle, bull whips, and extremely fast aircraft. People hear sonic booms as low booming sounds, with the boom often sounding a double beat.
Depending on the aircraft’s altitude, sonic booms reach the ground two to 60 seconds after flyover. However, not all booms are heard at ground level. The speed of sound at any altitude is a function of air temperature. A decrease or increase in temperature results in a corresponding decrease or increase in sound speed.
What is the sound of a sonic boom?
, and sonic boom. A sonic boom is the sound associated with the shock waves created whenever an object traveling through the air travels faster than the speed of sound. Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding similar to an explosion or a thunderclap to the human ear.
This of course begs the inquiry “Can light produce a sonic boom if it travels faster?”
Originally Answered: We know that anything that travels faster than sound breaks the sound barrier and produces a sonic boom. But light, which always travels faster than sound does not produce a sonic boom.
The sonic boom causes a large amount of sound energy and sounds like an explosion to the human ear. Sometimes the sonic boom created by supersonic aircraft is so loud that it may cause damage to some structures.
Why does the wavefront of a sonic boom advance?
Since the source is moving faster than the sound waves it creates, it leads the advancing wavefront. A sonic boom produced by an aircraft moving at M=2.92, calculated from the cone angle of 20 degrees. Observers hear nothing until the shock wave, on the edges of the cone, crosses their location. NASA data showing N-wave signature.
When we were reading we ran into the question “What causes a sonic boom when a plane flies past?”.
Some sources claimed 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.