The “time interval between the two booms,” denoted as Δt, refers to the duration between two successive sonic booms generated by a supersonic object as it moves through the air. A sonic boom is a shock wave produced when an object travels through the air at a speed faster than the speed of sound in that medium. This represents the time interval between the arrival of two consecutive shock waves (sonic booms) at a specific location on the ground. It’s the time it takes for the supersonic object to travel a certain distance along its flight path, resulting in the arrival of the bow wave (front) and the tail wave (rear) of the shock wave at the observer’s position.
- Time interval between the two booms (Δt) in sec
- Distance along the ground between the bow and tail waves (𝜆) in m
- Flight velocity of the supersonic body (V∞) in m/s