visual effect of breaking the sound barrier?

[entwined]

A friend sent me this picture, along with several others of the same thing.

 

It was said that the photo was taken at the instant of breaking the sound barrier.

 

I did not know that breaking the sound barrier was accompanied by this sort of visual effect.

 

I thought one of you guys or gals could explain it to me?

 

[ydoaPs]

it's water. i don't remember exactly why it happens, though.

[RyanJ]

it's water. i don't remember exactly why it happens, though.

 

Isn't it because of the sudden pressure drop that results as the barrier is broken or something like that?

 

Cheers,

 

Ryan Jones

[ydoaPs]

here we go

[blike]

Check this page out: http://www.fluidmech.net/gallery/conden/pg_sing.htm.

 

Edit: YDOAPS beat me to it. Here's a video if it.

[RyanJ]

Thanks blike, looks cool! You can even see the shape of the expanding pressure wave... would love to see that myself sometime

 

Cheers,

 

Ryan Jones

[insane_alien]

Ryan: it is a very very cool thing to see. loud too.

[RyanJ]

Ryan: it is a very very cool thing to see. loud too.

 

Yea I bet it would be loud, apparently it can shatter glass in windows and stuff like that too. Pretty neat

 

Cheers,

 

Ryan Jones

[Klaynos]

There's currently big developments being made into reducing sonic boom, and hopefully removing it...

[kenshin]

There's currently big developments being made into reducing sonic boom, and hopefully removing it...

 

 

Did you say "removing" it.How is it supposed to happen.Removing a sonic boom....hmn....neat,but,how exactly is it supposed to be done?

[Cloud]

I was at "youtube" (don't judge me)

watching videos of planes breaking the sound barrier and I was wondering what this was also.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNoeuRKvcUk&search=sonic%20boom

 

What surprised me was that the planes seemed as if they weren't really travelling at 1000 kph.

 

Out of all the videos of sonic booms I think this was the only convincing one:

 

And maybe the concorde one too.

But what do I know. Judge for yourselves.

[Klaynos]

Did you say "removing" it.How is it supposed to happen.Removing a sonic boom....hmn....neat,but,how exactly is it supposed to be done?

 

You develop aircraft shapes that reduce the weird pressure waves...

 

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4195.html

[ydoaPs]

You develop aircraft shapes that reduce the weird pressure waves...

 

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4195.html

reduce them, yes, but is it possible to remove them?

[Klaynos]

reduce them, yes, but is it possible to remove them?

 

It was a while ago I read the article, but I belive that was the aim...

[T-Nemesis]

I wonder what the visual/audio effects would be of something breaking the light barrier?

[Klaynos]

I wonder what the visual/audio effects would be of something breaking the light barrier?

 

It's not possible so the question doesn't have any physical answers...

[JesuBungle]

I don't believe you could remove a sonic boom... not unless you had a supersonic aircraft that was completely silent. But my question is this. Why would you want to? Sonic booms are just so cool. My dad always talked about when he was a kid living near a military target range hearing sonic booms all day. That made me so jealous. Only once in my life did I ever hear one, and it happened when President Bush's escort broke the sound barrier over my house. All I can say is it was AWESOME! lol

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Noise regulations. The Concorde already had problems with restrictions forcing it to fly mostly over the ocean, so quieting a supersonic aircraft could be a big bonus. Wouldn't you be irritated if the midnight express flew over your house every night at Mach 2 and rattled the windows?

[Gilded]

It's not possible so the question doesn't have any physical answers...

 

Forgetting about Cherenkov radiation are we? Of course, c isn't broken by the object/particle, just the speed of light in a medium.

 

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherenkov_radiation for more information.

[Klaynos]

I was interperating "light barrier" as c, therefore my comment still stands...