Short · Sound
What makes a sonic boom?
A sonic boom isn't a one-time bang. Drag a plane past the speed of sound and watch its rings pile into a cone that booms along the ground the whole time it flies.
Try it yourself
Opens Sonic Boom Lab. Change the same thing yourself.
Transcript
What makes a sonic boom? Every sound spreads out in rings, at about three hundred forty meters a second. A slow plane stays inside its own rings. Now drag the speed past the speed of sound. The plane outruns its noise, and the rings pile up into a cone. That cone is the boom. It doesn't happen just once, when the plane breaks the barrier. The cone drags along behind it, booming over everyone below. Try it yourself at Explainer Tools dot com.