6. Shock waves
A shockwave is a very thin zone of flow, less than 1 mm thick, which marks the transition from supersonic velocity upstream to subsonic velocity downstream. In the same space, pressure rises sharply. As a result, the fluid particles passing through the shockwave undergo an extremely high deceleration rate of up to 10
9
to 10
10
m /s
2
, or around one billion g. It's this violent impact, producing a real shock on the particles, which is the origin of the name given to this transition zone.
There are straight (or flat) shockwaves and oblique shockwaves.
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Shock waves