Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Air pressure waves compressed at Mach one coalesce into continuous shock waves. The figure is taken from NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

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Yes. It sits on the Technology shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

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The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Sonic booms occur when aircraft travel faster than the speed of sound

Air pressure waves compressed at Mach one coalesce into continuous shock waves

When an aeroplane accelerates through the speed of sound (about 1,235 kilometres per hour at sea level), pressure waves generated by the fuselage cannot escape ahead of the aircraft. These pressure waves coalesce into a continuous shock wave cone propagating outward. Ground observers hear a loud explosive bang as the shock wave boundary passes.

Where this comes from

NASA Dryden Flight Research Center

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Tags: aviation, supersonic, physics

Sonic booms occur when aircraft travel faster than the speed of sound: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Air pressure waves compressed at Mach one coalesce into continuous shock waves. The figure is taken from NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a technology fact?: Yes. It sits on the Technology shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.