what is sonic boom?

Answer 1

You will get about every "sonic boom" in this link:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_Boom

Answer 2

It is called sonic boom, because you actually hear the noise that sounds like very loud "BOOM".

It is a wave or type of vibration, if this happens near a window, it, in most case, most of the time break the glass of any and all widows in its path(path of the sonic boom wave,or wave created by sonic boom).

At different altitude, you have different speed of sound, so depending on the condition if any thing travels faster then sound (about 750 miles per hour at sea level), then,at that instant, at which it breaks the speed of the sound, it is considered to have broken the sound barrier.

The sound wave is left behind, if it is air plain then the pilot is not able to hear the sound of the engine running, or the boom. But people out side on ground and other slow moving plains around the fast moving plain can hear and fill it.

There is a kind of void created between two wave(sound wave and the wave created by the plain) at the breaking of the sound barrier these two separate, sooner or latter faster wave slows down and collides with slower sound wave, causing a big "boom noise" or a very loud noise.

Answer 3

sonic boom is a sound caused by any object breaking the sound barrier (ie 334 meters / second)

the air forms a barrier in front of the object and when the object crosses the barrier a shock wave is created which is known to us as sonic boom


even thunder is a sonic boom created by lightning or electricity breaking the barrier

even the sound of the whip is that the tip moves faster tan sound in air

Answer 4

Noise, pressure, and shock waves resulting from an aircraft or missile exceeding the speed of sound. At one time property damage caused by sonic boom was excluded under most property forms. Modern commercial property forms and homeowner policies now cover losses by sonic boom.

Answer 5

It's amazing that many do not realize that the sound of a whip being "snapped" is a mini-sonic boom. This happens when the tip of the whip actually breaks the sound barrier.

Answer 6

A sonic boom is the audible component of a shock wave in air. The term is commonly used to refer to the air shocks caused by the supersonic flight of military aircraft or passenger transports such as Concorde (Mach 2.03, no longer flying) and the Space Shuttle (up to Mach 27 - Note, this high number is largely due to the high altitudes, therefore low air pressures, at which the space shuttle flies). Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding much like an explosion; typically the shock front may approach 167 megawatts per square meter, and may exceed 200 decibels.

When an aircraft is near the sound barrier, an unusual cloud sometimes forms in its wake. A Prandtl-Glauert Singularity results from a drop in pressure, because of shock wave formation. This pressure change causes a sharp drop in temperature, which in humid conditions leads the water vapor in the air to condense into droplets and form the cloud.

Cause
As an object moves through the air, it creates a series of pressure waves in front of it and behind it, similar to the bow and stern waves created by a boat. These waves travel at the speed of sound, and as the speed of the aircraft increases the waves are forced together or 'compressed' because they cannot "get out of the way" of each other, eventually merging into a single shock wave at the speed of sound. This critical speed is known as Mach 1 and is approximately 1,225 kilometers per hour (761 mph) at sea level.

In smooth flight, the shock wave starts at the nose of the aircraft and ends at the tail. There is a sudden rise in pressure at the nose, decreasing steadily to a negative pressure at the tail, where it suddenly returns to normal. This "overpressure profile" is known as the N-wave because of its shape. The "boom" is experienced when there is a sudden rise in pressure, so the N-wave causes two booms, one when the initial pressure rise from the nose hits, and another when the tail passes and the pressure suddenly returns to normal. This leads to a distinctive "double boom" from supersonic aircraft. When maneuvering, the pressure distribution changes into different forms, with a characteristic U-wave shape. Since the boom is being generated continually as long as the aircraft is supersonic, it traces out a path on the ground following the aircraft's flight path, known as the boom carpet.

A sonic boom or "tunnel boom" can also be caused by high-speed trains in tunnels (such as the Japanese Shinkansen). In order to reduce the sonic boom effect, a special shape of the traincar and a widened opening of the tunnel entrance is necessary. When a high speed train enters a tunnel, the sonic boom effect occurs at the tunnel exit. In contrast to the (super)sonic boom of an aircraft, this "tunnel boom" is caused by a rapid change of subsonic flow (from the sudden narrowing of the surrounding space) rather than by a shock wave. Close to the tunnel exit this phenomenon can cause disturbances to residents.

Characteristics

The power, or volume, of the shock wave is dependent on the quantity of air that is being accelerated, and thus the size and weight of the aircraft. As the aircraft increases speed the shocks grow "tighter" around the craft and do not become much "louder". At very high speeds and altitudes the cone does not intersect the ground and no boom is heard. The "length" of the boom from front to back is dependent on the length of the aircraft to a factor of 3:2. Longer aircraft therefore "spread out" their booms more than smaller ones, which leads to a less powerful boom.

The nose shockwave compresses and pulls the air along with the aircraft so that the aircraft behind its shockwave is in subsonic airflow.

However, this means that several smaller shock waves can, and usually do, form at other points on the aircraft, primarily any convex points or curves, the leading wing edge and especially the inlet to engines. These secondary shockwaves are caused by the subsonic air behind the main shockwave being forced to go supersonic again by the shape of the aircraft (for example, the air's acceleration over the top of a curved wing).

The later shock waves are somehow faster than the first one, travel faster and add to the main shockwave at some distance away from the aircraft to create a much more defined N-wave shape. This maximizes both the magnitude and the "rise time" of the shock which makes the boom seem louder. On most designs the characteristic distance is about 40,000 feet (12,000 m), meaning that below this altitude the sonic boom will be "softer". However, the drag at this altitude or below makes supersonic travel particularly inefficient, which poses a serious problem.

Answer 7

Objects traveling faster than the speed of sound create sonic booms. These objects could be man-made (aircraft, some artillery, supersonic cars, etc.) or natural (lightening or meteors). No matter the cause, sonic booms remain impressive - they propagate faster than the speed of sound, are more powerful than steam liners, can pass through strong buildings. Unfortunately, these characteristics lead to damaging effects. Sonic booms have been blamed as causes for 80-ton rock falls, explosions of internal organs, deadly stampedes, cracked glass antiquities, and dead baby minks. Although extreme cases have never been verified, much evidence exists to support more moderate claims.

Answer 8

when speed exeeds the speed of sound,720 kmph
Vibration & reverberations setin in Atmospheric Air
asu know vibration of Air molecule is sound & travels
At sonic velosity Plane arrives ahead of Air molecule movement
hence the boom

Answer 9

The boom you hear is when a plan breaks the sound barrier

Answer 10

A sonic boom happens when something goes through the OZONE layer . Either out to outer space or coming in to our atmosphere