An aircraft travelling at 600km/h accelerates steadily at 10km/h per second. Taking the speed of sound as 1100km/h at the aircraft's altitude, how long will it take to reach the 'sound barrier'?
Solution :
The sound barrier is the problem faced by an aircraft moving at speed of sound.
Here,
Final velocity v = 1100 km/hr
Initial velocity u = 600 km/hr
Acceleration a = 10 km/hr2
Time taken t = ?
We know
v = u + at
=> t = (v-u)/a
=>t =(1100-600)/10
=>t = 500/10 = 50 hrs
It would take 50 hrs for the aircraft to attain that velocity