Speed of Sound

Example: An observer on the ground finds that an airplane flying horizontally at an altitude of 5000
m has traveled 12 km from the overhead position before the sound of the airplane is first heard.
Estimate the speed at which the airplane is flying.
Speed of Sound

Solution:
It is assumed that the net disturbance produced by the aircraft is weak, i.e., that, as indicated by the
wording of the question, basically what is being investigated is how far the aircraft will have traveled
from the overhead position when the sound waves emitted by the aircraft are first heard by the
observer. If the discussion of Mach waves given above is considered, it will be seen that, as
indicated in the Figure, the aircraft will first be heard by the observer when the Mach wave
emanating from the nose of the aircraft reaches the observer.
Now, since the temperature varies through the atmosphere, the speed of sound varies as the
sound waves pass down through the atmosphere, which means that the Mach waves from
the aircraft are actually curved. This effect is, however, small and will be neglected here, the
speed of sound at the average temperature between the ground and the aircraft being used to
describe the Mach wave.
Note: In evaluating the performance of an aircraft, a “standard atmosphere” is usually introduced.
The conditions in the “standard atmosphere” are meant to represent average conditions in the
atmosphere. In the U.S. Standard Atmosphere, the temperature in the inner portion of the
atmosphere is defined by the following equation: T = 288.16 – 0.0065H
Now for altitudes, H, of from 0 m (sea level) to 11,019 m the temperature in the atmosphere is given
by T = 288.16 – 0.0065H so, at the mean altitude of 2500 m, the temperature is 288.16 – 0.0065 ×
2500 = 271.9 K. Hence, the mean speed of sound is given by
Speed of Sound

𝑐𝑐 = 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
From the Figure in the previous slide, it will be seen that if α is the Mach angle based on the mean
speed of sound, then

5000
𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝛼𝛼 = = 0.417 . Therefore, 𝛼𝛼 = 22.6
12,000

However, since sin 𝛼𝛼 = 1/𝑀𝑀 , and thus,

1
M= = 2.6
sin(𝛼𝛼)
Hence, it follows that:

Velocity of aircraft = 2.6 × 330.6 = 859.6 m/s