Mach Number

The Mach number is defined as the velocity of an object in a medium divided by the sound velocity in
that medium. It is a dimensionless number used to compare the velocity of an object to the speed of
sound. Mach numbers are commonly represented by the symbol “M”.

Mach number (M) = [object velocity] / [sound velocity]

Significance:

Mach number is an important quantity to compare the speed of any object with a speed of sound. It is a
parameter to denote the speed of a flying object in air medium. In fluid dynamics, it has very vast use.
Mach number is heavily studied to have a proper idea on the motion of aeroplanes and rockets.

When an aeroplane is flying in the sky the air particles nearest to the body of aeroplane get disturbed. If
the aeroplane has a higher velocity it provides a compressing effect on the surrounding air. Hereby
judging the Mach number we can say that the fluid is compressible or not. Mach number has no
dimensions because it is the ratio of two velocities having the same dimensions.

Various Types of Flow

According to the variation of Mach number fluid flow is classified.

Subsonic: For these type of flow the Mach number remains below 0.8. Commercial aeroplanes flowing
in this range have a round nose and leading edges.
Sonic: For sonic flow, the Mach number is one. That is for these type of flow the velocity of an object is
equal to the velocity of sound in the local medium.

Supersonic: When the object flow with greater velocity than the sound it is said to have supersonic
velocity. It has a Mack number greater than one. Aeroplanes have proper designs to undergo supersonic
speed.

Hypersonic: When the speed of an object is much higher than the speed of sound the flow is called
hypersonic. The range of Mach number is five to ten in this case.

Applications:

Mach number is used to determine whether a flow is incompressible or compressible. The medium can
be gaseous or liquid. There are many other applications of Mach number as listed below:

 Speed or Velocity comparison

 To find out the sonic condition of fluid while determining the probability of acoustic-induced
vibration.
 While studying the motion of rockets and planes, the Mach number is a very important
parameter.
 Mach number is an important parameter for studying choked flow and flow through nozzles.
 The study of shock waves is also dependent on Mach Number