What happens when you fly faster than sound?

That thunderous crack from a supersonic jet isn't the sound of its engines. It's the sound of the air itself being broken. This video explains the incredible physics behind a sonic boom. We explore how any object moving through the air creates sound waves. At subsonic speeds, these waves travel away in all directions. But as an aircraft approaches the speed of sound, it starts to catch up to its own sound waves. At supersonic speeds, these waves can no longer get out of the way. They are forced to merge and compress into a single, massive shockwave of pressurized air. The 'boom' is the abrupt change in pressure when this shockwave washes over you on the ground. It's not a one-time event; the boom is continuously generated as long as the jet flies faster than sound. If you're fascinated by the extremes of physics and engineering, this explanation is for you.

Видео What happens when you fly faster than sound? канала Complexity Explained