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How can a shock wave travel faster than the speed of sound? I thought the maximum speed a disturbance could travel in a material was exactly the speed of sound
by StavrosK 6y ago
How can a shock wave travel faster than the speed of sound? I thought the maximum speed a disturbance could travel in a material was exactly the speed of sound in that material, since that's what sound is.
- Miraste 6y agoThe shock wave travels faster than the speed of sound in the medium at rest, but not faster than the speed of sound in the moving medium around the wave. Longer and better explanation: https://physics.stackexchange.com/a/193323 https://physics.stackexchange.com/a/193323
- StavrosK 6y agoI see, thank you. Both your explanation and the link were illuminating.
- simonh 6y agoSound is a more or less coherent propagating oscillation in the medium. A shock wave consists of a very thin front of high entropy propagating through the medium, which is not coherent and essentially disrupts the structure of the medium.
- ummonk 6y agoIf I use a machine to mechanically fling air at, say, 500 m/s, then it will move faster than the speed of sound relative to ambient air, until it gets slowed down and turns into a normal pressure wave.
- glofish 6y agointerestingly even light (in a medium) can travel faster than the speed of light in that medium now both speeds will be slower than the speed of light in vaccum (as that is the highest speed that can be attained) as the light "slows" down from faster speed to its normal speed radiation is emitted https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherenkov_radiation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherenkov_radiation