Mach Cone and Sonic Boom
Build a Mach cone from moving wavefronts and measure its half-angle.
Free theory articleBuild a Mach cone from moving wavefronts and measure its half-angle.
Concept & interpretation
In still uniform air of sound speed 343 m/s, a source travels at a certain Mach number (M). When M > 1, the emitted circular wavefront sections form a Mach-cone envelope. The half-angle from the forward velocity axis obeys sin(μ) = 1/M.
Experiment
You can interact with the Mach Cone visualization by selecting different Mach numbers and elapsed times.
- Select Mach number = 0.5. Observe that the source remains inside the wavefronts and no Mach cone is formed.
- Select Mach number = 1. The sonic limit is reached, forming a vertical limiting front (90°).
- Select Mach number = 2. A proper Mach cone forms at an angle of 30°.
Try it yourself here: Mach Cone and Sonic Boom Interactive Module.