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Asanaircraftmovesthroughtheair,theairmoleculesneartheaircraftaredisturbedandmovearoundtheaircraft.Ifthe
aircraftpassesatalowspeed,typicallylessthan250mph,thedensityoftheairremainsconstant.Butforhigherspeeds,
someoftheenergyoftheaircraftgoesintocompressingtheairandlocallychangingthedensityoftheair.This
compressibilityeffectalterstheamountofresultingforceontheaircraft.Theeffectbecomesmoreimportantasspeed
increases.Nearandbeyondthespeedofsound,about330m/sor760mph,smalldisturbancesintheflowaretransmitted
tootherlocationsisentropicallyorwithconstantentropy.Butasharpdisturbancegeneratesashockwavethataffectsboth
theliftanddragofanaircraft.
Theratioofthespeedoftheaircrafttothespeedofsoundinthegasdeterminesthemagnitudeofmanyofthe
compressibilityeffects.Becauseoftheimportanceofthisspeedratio,aerodynamicistshavedesignateditwithaspecial
parametercalledtheMachnumberinhonorofErnstMach,alate19thcenturyphysicistwhostudiedgasdynamics.The
MachnumberMallowsustodefineflightregimesinwhichcompressibilityeffectsvary.
1. SubsonicconditionsoccurforMachnumberslessthanone,M<1.Forthelowestsubsonicconditions,
compressibilitycanbeignored.
2. Asthespeedoftheobjectapproachesthespeedofsound,theflightMachnumberisnearlyequaltoone,M=1,
andtheflowissaidtobetransonic.Atsomeplacesontheobject,thelocalspeedexceedsthespeedofsound.
Compressibilityeffectsaremostimportantintransonicflowsandleadtotheearlybeliefinasoundbarrier.Flight
fasterthansoundwasthoughttobeimpossible.Infact,thesoundbarrierwasonlyanincreaseinthedragnear