Blue Angels

A while ago the Blue Angels were in the islands, and I had the opportunity to go watch them perform their tight formation flying. As I watched in awe as the jets screamed overhead, I realized that they were creating sonic booms! This is because the jets were flying faster than the speed of sound (which varies according to temperature but is usually around 343 m/s), creating the amplified sound waves we call sonic booms. IT WAS AWESOME!!

I also got to thinking about the medium affecting the velocity of sound. Since sound actually travels relatively slowly through air when compared to other mediums, creating a sonic boom in another medium (underwater, for example) would require far greater speed. In addition, an underwater sonic boom would probably result in physical waves as well, and a large enough one could theoretically cause a tidal wave or similar large disturbance. Perhaps sound could be used for underwater demolition without causing harm to the local ecosystem! THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS! SCIENCE RULEZ!!!1!!