Mach number a small area around the object's leading edge. (Fig.1b) Fig. 1. "Mach number in transonic airflow around an airfoil; M < 1 (a) and M > 1 (b)." When an aircraft exceeds Mach 1 (i.e. the sound barrier), a large pressure difference is created just in front of the aircraft. This abrupt pressure difference, called a shock wave, spreads backward and outward from the aircraft in a cone shape (a so-called Mach cone). It is this shock wave that causes the sonic boom heard as a fast moving aircraft travels overhead. A person inside the aircraft will not hear this.
Mach number a subsonic compressible flow is derived from Bernoulli's equation for M < 1: where: The formula to compute Mach number in a supersonic compressible flow is derived from the Rayleigh supersonic pitot equation: Mach number is a function of temperature and true airspeed. Aircraft flight instruments, however, operate using pressure differential to compute Mach number, not temperature. Assuming air to be an ideal gas, the formula to compute Mach number in a subsonic compressible flow is found from Bernoulli's equation for (above): The formula to compute Mach number in a supersonic compressible flow can be found from the Rayleigh supersonic