Supersonic

Supersonic

Adjective · /ˌsuːpəˈsɒnɪk/ · moving faster than the speed of sound; extremely fast

Definition

Supersonic describes anything that travels faster than the speed of sound — approximately 343 metres per second, or 767 miles per hour, in air at sea level. When an aircraft exceeds this speed, it crosses Mach one — the sound barrier — and enters a regime where the physics of flight change dramatically. Pressure waves that normally travel ahead of the aircraft can no longer outrun it; they pile up and release as a sonic boom. Supersonic is also used figuratively as a vivid intensifier for anything extremely fast: supersonic growth, supersonic reflexes, a supersonic career. The word carries kinetic energy wherever it lands.

Origin

Supersonic combines the Latin prefix super (above, beyond) with sonic, from Latin sonus (sound). The word entered aeronautical engineering texts in the 1930s and reached mass awareness on 14 October 1947, when test pilot Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 aircraft over the Mojave Desert. Before that flight, some engineers believed the sound barrier was impenetrable. Yeager proved otherwise at Mach 1.06.