May
25
Vapour field and breaking the sound barrier?
Author: admin Category: 5
In layperson’s terms, what causes the physical manifestation of the vapour bubble around a plane that breaks the sound barrier?
The shock wave is a sudden build up of pressure in the air. When this pressure passes by, the compressed air suddenly expands and cools. If there is enough water vapor in the air and it condenses as it cools, the condensed water shows up as water droplets (cloud).
This is seen even in subsonic situations when the air is humid enough. You can probably see a bunch of these videos on youtube where people take movies of takeoffs and landings.
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May 25th, 2010
The shock wave is a sudden build up of pressure in the air. When this pressure passes by, the compressed air suddenly expands and cools. If there is enough water vapor in the air and it condenses as it cools, the condensed water shows up as water droplets (cloud).
This is seen even in subsonic situations when the air is humid enough. You can probably see a bunch of these videos on youtube where people take movies of takeoffs and landings.
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