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Talk:Sonic boom

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 86.4.223.79 (talk) at 23:02, 19 June 2007 (request for sound file.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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Waqas

I would like to know what is the exact frequency of sonic boom? How much frequency can a normal human ear bare?

merge

I think the two should merge because When a plane breaks the sound barrier, a sonic boom is the result

Drawings

Somebody please provide better drawings.

1. The red engine drawing is very unclear and confusing. Which end is at the front? It can be figured out, but why should the reader have to think about that? Objects usually move across a page from left to right, but this aircraft seems to be going from right to left. The two versions ("inefficient" and "unstable") appear to be making a comparison, but to what? Certainly not to each other because the engines are of a different design. Or, is the lower drawing an enlargement of the upper drawing? Where is the "spike" referenced in the caption? Maybe that pointy thing on the right? Okay, but how does it work? Overall, the drawing provides no information value. The caption contains the only useful information.

2. The next drawing (with "fuselage" and "area rule") makes no sense at all. What is it? Is there a wing there, as implied by the caption? Are we looking down or to the side? The "fuselage" looks more like a butterfly -- I fail to see an aircraft there. The captions says something about reusing some air displacement -- is the drawing trying to show this?

Jeff

Used as weapon

I heard that during the Vietnam war, F-4 phantoms were flown supersonic close to ground to produce loud sonic booms to kill or seriously injure soldiers on the ground. Was it just a urban legend? Any retired pilot to confirm this? Kowloonese 22:43, 1 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I say urban legend. A sonic boom would certainly harrass the enemy, but could an airplane generate a deadly sonic boom? I don't think so. Loss of hearing and psychological impacts are definitely possible though. 69.181.75.37 22:10, 22 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Megawatt!?

From my limited physics education I find it difficult to believe that a sonic boom can deliver 167 MW (megawatts - 1,000,000 Watts) per square meter. Although I can believe it delivers mW (milliwatts - 1/1,000 Watt) per square meter. Is this just a bad prefix? I think sound pressures are typically given in dBmW (decibell milliwatts.)

Videos at the bottom

I find it very hard to believe that this: # F-14 Tomcat sonic boom flyby (with audio) (file info) 

   * F-14 Tomcat flies at Mach 1 over the water, creating a sonic boom as it passes.

is an accurate description of a sonic boom.

1) There IS no sonic boom in this video. 2) Just because the water below the aircraft is a whiteish hue it's caused by the altitude the F-14 is flying.. NOT a sonic boom it's unrelated phenomenon. 3) Those people in my mind would be very, very deaf if it really was a sonic boom that close to them. I kind of doubt they'd be cheering in jubilation. 4) I've seen this video on YouTube.. Same kind of dicussion ensues.

The shock would be generated around the aircraft, not on the water. not a sonic boom. 69.181.75.37 22:10, 22 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Street Fighter....

Guile's..... Sonic Boom.... Thats what I always think of when I hear sonic boom

You're not the only one, dude. SONIC BOOM! (83.151.131.116 23:10, 5 December 2006 (UTC))[reply]

Match One?

The drawing says "Match One" can we fix it to say "Mach" one? M@$+@ Ju ~ ♠ 19:06, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Image

Would this image be useful? 81.63.184.84 01:03, 19 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Units

Richard Seebass and his colleague Albert George at Cornell University studied the problem extensively and eventually defined a "figure of merit" (FM) to characterize the sonic boom levels of different aircraft. FM is proportional to the aircraft weight divided by three-halves of the aircraft length, FM = W/(3/2·L) = 2W/3L. The lower this value, the less boom the aircraft generates, with figures of about 1 or lower being considered acceptable.

Umm, using which units? Dividing a weight by a length doesn't give a dimensionless constant. The 2/3 factor suggests calibration of desirable values against some kind of unit (so the bound can be placed at a nice round 1 rather than 1.5), so which one? -- Milo

Good question. In ever reference I have found to date, there are no dimensions given. Seebass has a recent paper on this that would likely solve the mystery, but it is only available for money. Maury 20:54, 1 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Sound file?

It would be nice to have a sound file. Could someone supply one please?

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