When a plane exceeds the speed of sound, a sonic boom is produced by the wake of the sound waves. For a plane flying at 13,000 feet, the circular wave front can be given by where z is the height of the wave front above Earth. See the diagram below. Note that the xy -plane is Earth s surface, which is approximately flat over small distances. Find and name the equation formed when the wave front hits Earth.
B) e

Question

When a plane exceeds the speed of sound, a sonic boom is produced by the wake of the sound waves. For a plane flying at 13,000 feet, the circular wave front can be given by  where z is the height of the wave front above Earth. See the diagram below. Note that the xy -plane is Earth s surface, which is approximately flat over small distances. Find and name the equation formed when the wave front hits Earth. 
B) e

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

When the wave front hits Earth, it will be at z=0. Therefore, we plug in z=0 into the given equation and get:
x^2 + y^2 = (132,000)^2
which is the equation of a circle with radius 132,000 feet centered at the origin. The correct choice is D.

When a Plane Exceeds the Speed of Sound, a Sonic