BOOMRAY

Animation of a sonic boom (ray model)

This animation shows sound traveling from an airplane traveling across the sky to a man standing on the ground. The velocity shown is with respect to the speed of sound. The animation begins with velocity=0.5 which means the aircraft is moving at half the speed of sound. As the airplane travels across the sky, the sound which the airplane made at each previous position travels toward the man.

When the airplane is traveling slower than the speed of sound, the first sound heard by the man came from the airplane when it was far away. When the airplane is traveling faster than the speed of sound, the first sound heard by the man comes from the airplane when it was much closer. For example, when the airplane is traveling at twice the speed of sound, the first sound heard by the man comes from the airplane when it was in the fourth position.

The velocity may be changed by typing in a number (including decimal points if desired) at the keyboard, followed by pressing the enter key. When the value is completely entered, the value shown on the screen will change to the new value.

The program recognizes the following commands.

reset r Reset the animation with the airplane at the left edge of the screen.
next n Move the airplane to the next position.

reset	r	Reset the animation with the airplane at the left edge of the screen.
next	n	Move the airplane to the next position.