Question about sonic booms?

Question

ok i have wondered about this since i was in about 7th grade. sound travels roughly 770 mph through the air. If a plane creates a sonic boom it's because it is traveling faster than the speed of sound correct? well if this is true than if the plane has enough fuel to continue flying for a amount of time say the plane is traveling at 800 mph it's 30 miles per hour faster than sound. so if it continues to travel for enough time could you see the plane and then an hour later her the sound of it?

Answer 1

Well,

The thing is that the boom you hear is the first part of the sound that was able to get to you.  The first shock wave.   Yes, the plane will pass you before you hear it, but the sound it made an hour ago will not actually travel 800 miles.  

So, no you won't hear the sound it made an hour ago, because that shock wave will not travel 800 miles.

You will hear the first wave of sound, and it will continue until the wave no longer has the energy to travel to your ears.

Say you heard the aircraft for 1 minute, total time.. the last sound you hear will be the sound the aircraft made at

800/60 miles from you.   (13 miles)

Answer 2

well you would hear the noise of the jet a couple of seconds later not an hour becus its going a little faster then the speed of sound for you to here the sound an hour later would be a speed unthinkable

Answer 3

You would have to be 770 miles away from the airplane to hear it an hour later.

Answer 4

The sonic boom is caused by the overpressure boundary created when the aircraft exceeds the speed of sound. The shock wave produced by this boundary expands away from the leading edges of the nose, wing & tail in a cone shape. When the edge of the shock reach your ear, the overpressure prduces the boom sound. Since the wave travels across the gound at the same speed as the aircraft, it's usually pretty close in trail. So...for an aircraft travelling just above Mach1, the boom should be heard with the aircraft still in sight.

As the speed increases above supersonic, the cone becomes more narrow, so the shock reaches the ground further behind the aircraft.

However, when originating at high altitudes, the shock may not reach the ground with enough energy for you to hear it.

Bottom line: you will probably be able to see any aircraft producing a sonic boom heard at ground level.