Within the θ-β-M equation, a maximum corner angle, θ, exists for any upstream Mach number.  When θ > θ,  the oblique shock wave is no longer attached to the corner and is replaced by a detached bow shock.  A θ-β-M diagram, common in most compressible flow textbooks, shows a series of curves that will indicate θ for each Mach number.  The θ-β-M relationship will produce two β angles for a given θ and M, with the larger angle called a strong shock and the smaller called a weak shock.  The weak shock is almost always seen experimentally.
The rise in pressure, density, and temperature after an oblique shock can be calculated as follows:
M is solved for as follows: