Talk:Mach effect

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Revision as of 13:00, 20 April 2010 by imported>Howard C. Berkowitz (This is not propulsion related, but specifically explosion related -- it's not exceeding Mach 1.)
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 Definition As a result of very large explosions in air, an interaction between the direct shock wave and the shock wave(s) reflected from the ground, which causes combined overpressure on the surface of the earth [d] [e]
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 Workgroup categories Physics, Engineering and Military [Editors asked to check categories]
 Subgroup category:  Nuclear Engineering
 Talk Archive none  English language variant American English

No need for explosives

The current introduction and definition read as if explosives were necessary to cause a Mach effect. More conventional propulsion techniques, however, may well suffice. --Daniel Mietchen 23:12, 19 April 2010 (UTC)

We may need some clarification. The Mach effect, in this context, very much relates to explosives, and usually nuclear explosives. There are other things called Mach, such as the speed of sound, and Mach diamonds in extremely fast fluid flows. This Mach effect is specifically concerned with explosive produced shock waves -- at the second level of detail, it becomes more complex due to the double-flash effect of a nuclear burst, which superheats air and changes the speed of propagation through it.
This isn't about exceeding Mach 1. Howard C. Berkowitz 19:00, 20 April 2010 (UTC)