This project seeks to give insight into the sound wave fronts for three types of flight and demonstrate what gives rise to the sonic boom. 1. Subsonic, plane's speed less than the speed of sound 2. Sonic, plane's speed equal to the speed of sound 3. Supersonic, plane's speed greater than the speed of sound The sonic boom is caused by the additive accumulation of the wave fronts in the direction of travel.
The speed levels are indicated by a number called the Mach Number, (after the physicist Ernst Mach,1838-1916), indicating the ratio of the speed of the plane to the speed of sound. For example traveling at Mach 2 means traveling at double the speed of sound. Thanks to chooper100 who mentioned in the comments that the phenomena of motion effecting the frequency of sound is called the Doppler effect.
