|
|
| Use our "Random Page"
button to randomly browse our cool website! |
|
 |
|
|
| |
| Breaking the sound barrier! |
|
| Prandtl-Glauert singularity. |
The Prandtl-Glauert singularity (sometimes referred
to as a "vapor cone") is the point at
which a sudden drop in air pressure occurs, and
is generally accepted as the cause of the visible
condensation cloud that often surrounds an aircraft
traveling at transonic speeds, though there remains
some debate. It is an example of a mathematical
singularity in aerodynamics.
In aerodynamics, the sound barrier usually refers
to the point at which an aircraft moves from transonic
to supersonic speed. The term came into use during
World War II when a number of aircraft started to
encounter the effects of compressibility, a grab-bag
of unrelated aerodynamic effects. By the 1950s,
aircraft started to routinely "break"
the sound barrier.
The white halo is formed by condensed water droplets
which are thought to result from a drop in air pressure
around the aircraft... |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
