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The sonic boom heard on the ground beneath a supersonic aircraft is

  • A.Produced only at the instant the aircraft passes Mach one
  • B.The pressure signature of its shock system sweeping past the observer
  • C.The sound of the engines arriving all at once
  • D.A resonance of the atmosphere at the aircraft's Mach number

Answer: B

The aircraft trails a shock system that persists for as long as it flies supersonically, and the ground observer hears the characteristic double bang as that pressure signature sweeps over. It is emphatically not confined to the moment of crossing Mach one, a persistent popular misconception.

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