Quote:
Originally Posted by Gravdigr
3. If I'm in a plane traveling at twice the speed of sound, can I hear the engine?
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Yes. The sound will pass through the solid frame of the plane's body.
If the engine was somehow isolated from the body of the plane so that it was truly exterior to the plane, you would not hear it if you were sitting in front of it, or if you were sitting beside it, but you would hear it if you were sitting behind it. There is a sonic boom coming from the engine and that boom is a diagonal line going backwards from the engine in a cone at 67.5 degrees behind perpendicular to the plane's travel. If your seat is within that cone, you will hear the engine, and if it's in front of that cone you will not.
It's easier to draw than explain. It has to do with how fast the sound travels and how far the plane moves during the same time.