11 Facts About Sonic boom

Sonic boom is a sound associated with shock waves created when an object travels through the air faster than the speed of sound.

Rather, the boom is a continuous effect that occurs while the object is travelling at supersonic speeds and affects only observers that are positioned at a point that intersects a region in the shape of a geometrical cone behind the object.

Since the boom is being generated continually as long as the aircraft is supersonic, it fills out a narrow path on the ground following the aircraft's flight path, a bit like an unrolling red carpet, and hence known as the boom carpet.

The distance from the point on the ground where the Sonic boom is heard to the aircraft depends on its altitude and the angle.

The Sonic boom was produced by an F-4 flying just above the speed of sound at an altitude of 100 feet .

Ground motion resulting from sonic boom is rare and is well below structural damage thresholds accepted by the U S Bureau of Mines and other agencies.

The Quiet Spike is a telescoping boom fitted to the nose of an aircraft specifically designed to weaken the strength of the shock waves forming on the nose of the aircraft at supersonic speeds.

Sound of a sonic boom depends largely on the distance between the observer and the aircraft shape producing the sonic boom.

The intensity and width of a sonic boom path depends on the physical characteristics of the aircraft and how it is operated.

For steady supersonic flight, the boom is described as a carpet boom since it moves with the aircraft as it maintains supersonic speed and altitude.

Therefore, for a Sonic boom to reach the ground, the aircraft speed relative to the ground must be greater than the speed of sound at the ground.