Photographische Fixirung der durch Projektile in der Luft eingeleiteten Vorgange

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  • 1887
By Mach & Salcher
1887.

First Photograph of a Supersonic Object and the Mach Number


Mach, Ernst (1838-1916) & Salcher, P. Photographische Fixirung der durch Projectile in der Luft eingeleiteten Vorgange. In Sitzungsber. k. Akad. Wiss., math.-naturwiss. Classe, 95 (1887): 764-80. Plate, text illustrations. Whole number, 8vo. viii, [2], 761-1119pp. 2 fold. plates (in addition to Mach plate), text illustrations. 248 x 160 mm. (uncut & unopened). Original printed wrappers, slight dust-soiling & chipping. Light foxing, otherwise fine. Boxed. First Edition. Mach's classic paper contains the first photograph of a shock wave in front of an object (in this case a bullet) moving at supersonic speed, and the first mathematical formula describing the physics of this wave.


"The angle a, which the shock wave surrounding the envelope of an advancing gas cone makes with the direction of its motion, was shown to be related to the velocity of sound n and the velocity of the projectile w as sina = n/w when w > n. After 1907, following the work of Ludwig Prandtl at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institut fur Stromungsforschung in Gottingen, the angle a was called the Mach angle. Recognizing that the value of w/n (the ratio of the speed of an object to the speed of sound in the undisturbed medium in which the object is traveling) was becoming increasingly significant in aerodynamics for high-speed projectile studies, J. Ackeret in his inaugural lecture in 1929 as Privatdozent at the Eidgenossischen Technische Hochschule, Zurich, suggested the term 'Mach number' for this ratio. The Mach number was introduced into the literature in English by the late 1930s and since the end of World War II has taken on considerable importance in theoretical and fluid dynamics" (DSB).


Anderson, History of Aerodynamics, p. 376.

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Details

Title

Photographische Fixirung der durch Projektile in der Luft eingeleiteten Vorgange

Author

Mach & Salcher

Condition

Unknown

Date

1887


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