Why are aircrafts more stable traveling faster than sound than at the speed of sound?
In: Physics
Imagine a wave in the ocean. It’s smooth behind the wave and in front of the wave. But it’s not smooth _on_ the wave.
A plane compresses the air in front of it. As it approaches Mach 1 it creates a shockwave right at the nose and it sits there. If you go faster the shockwave moves towards the rear of the plane.
This shockwave is what creates a sonic boom.
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