MACH - WHAT IS IT?

The Concord is an airliner that can get to a Supersonic speed of about Mach 2+

Have you heard or read of a unit called Mach?
It is a derived unit of speed, named after the physicist, Ernst Mach.
The mach value for any magnitude of velocity can be gotten by dividing the velocity with the speed of sound in air (~ 330m/s). Then the value you get, is now a mach.
Note: unlike other units in physics, the magnitude is read or written after mach.
E.g. Mach 2 or M 2.

MACH VALUES
Different Ranges or values of Mach has a name. They are;
1. Subsonic: M < 1
2. Tran-sonic: M = 1
3. Supersonic: 1 < M < 3
4. High Supersonic: 3 < M < 5
5. Hyper-sonic: 5 < M < 10
6. High Hyper-sonic: 10 < M < 25
7. Re-entry Speed: M < 25

The value of M, is used in fluid Mechanics (a branch of physics) to model the properties of an object as it moves through a fluid like air.
This helps to know the actual drag and lift forces acting on the surface of the moving body and in turn, it helps Aerodynamics engineers to produce efficient and safe designs like the ones your see in Rockets and Jets.

It all starts with PHYSICS.

Hope you enjoyed it? Because PHYSICS IS FUN.

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