Question

A supersonic jet travels with twice the speed of sound in air. What is the angle of the conical wavefront of the shock waves produced by the jet?

Answer 1

Let the speed of sound = V and let the speed of supersonic = U_s.

When the speed of an object becomes more than the speed of sound, a shock wave is produced in the medium, conical in shape, with jet at the apex of the cone. The half of the angle 'θ' is given,

Therefore, angle of conical wave = 2θ = 2 x 30° = 60°