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A converging-diverging nozzle that can accelerate a compressible flow from subsonic to supersonic speed through a sonic throat. The nozzle area-velocity relation requires acceleration in a converging subsonic section and a diverging supersonic section. Reservoir and downstream pressures determine whether this transonic branch operates; the shape alone does not ensure choked flow.

Dynamic pressure is the bulk kinetic energy per unit volume associated with fluid motion at speed $U$ in a specified reference frame:Here $\rho =m/V$ is mass density. The word "pressure" identifies its units and its use as a pressure scale; $q$ is not an extra isotropic stress to add to the local static pressure in every surface traction. A stationary fluid can have large static pressure with $q=0$. Conversely, knowing $U$ and $\rho$ fixes $q$ without fixing static pressure. The definition remains useful in viscous fluid flow and compressible flow, even when the simplest Bernoulli equation is inapplicable. ^[ref]

For stipulated mass density ${\rho }_{\infty }=1.20\mathrm{kg}{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}$ and reference speed $U_{\infty }=20\mathrm{m}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$, $q_{\infty }=240\mathrm{Pa}$. At $40\mathrm{m}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$ with the same mass density, $q_{\infty }=960\mathrm{Pa}$. This quadratic scaling makes dynamic pressure a useful normalization for the lift coefficient, drag coefficient and pressure coefficient; it predicts four times a particular force only if its corresponding coefficient remains unchanged.

The connection with stagnation pressure requires hypotheses. For steady flow, constant mass density, inviscid flow, and gravity as the only body force, the Bernoulli equation gives, along one streamline,Here $p$ is static pressure, $g$ is gravitational acceleration, and $z$ is height. Bring that flow to rest without losses at the same height and the limiting static pressure is the stagnation pressure $p_0$:There must be no intervening pump supplying work or other energy input. Constancy along one streamline does not assert equal $B$ on all streamlines; irrotational flow in a connected region supplies that additional conclusion. Changing height requires retaining $\rho gz$. In compressible flow the stopping pressure difference generally differs from $\rho U^2/2$, and viscous dissipation can reduce recovered stagnation pressure. ^[ref]

A Pitot-static tube turns this relation into a measurement: its upstream-facing opening senses stagnation pressure, while separate side openings sample static pressure. Connect these to the positive and negative ports of a differential pressure transducer or manometer. Under the hypotheses above, the measured difference $\Delta p$ givesThus the stipulated $240\mathrm{Pa}$ and $1.20\mathrm{kg}{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}$ imply $20\mathrm{m}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$, not an independently measured speed. Align the probe with the incoming flow and keep its passages clear: blockage and pinched tubing invalidate the comparison. At very low speed, the difference can be smaller than instrument error; at high Mach number, compressibility and possibly a shock wave require a different reduction. ^[ref]

A useful control is differential-pressure calibration. For a digital manometer, zeroing establishes the reading at equal port pressures; it does not establish the gain away from zero. The manufacturer's Series 475 Handheld Digital Manometer: Specifications - Installation and Operating Instructions by Dwyer Instruments, Inc. directs the user to vent both ports to the atmosphere before zeroing. Its stated accuracy is a fraction of full scale, not of the reading, and depends on instrument temperature. Select a suitable range and record the instrument variant and units; the manual covers several ranges.^[ref]

An independent physical check can use a liquid-column manometer: apply a stable pressure difference to both instruments and compare the digital reading with the hydrostatic pressure inferred from the vertical level difference. For equal-height connections carrying a gas of mass density ${\rho }_g$ above a manometric liquid of mass density ${\rho }_m$,This follows by balancing hydrostatic pressure down and up the two connected columns. Use vertical height, even if a tube is inclined. Known mass densities, measured height and gravitational acceleration set the comparison scale. Check several differences across the working range and reverse the port connections to check the sign. This is a proposed independent check, not a claim that the cited teaching experiment performed a full instrument calibration. Recheck zero after reconnecting the sealed tubing; a zero adjustment alone cannot detect a blocked passage or an incorrect scale.

The Mach number is the ratio of fluid flow speed to local sound speed.

More precisely, the Mach number is the dimensionless quantitywhere $U$ is the magnitude of the body's relative velocity through the surrounding gas, and $c>0$ is the local sound speed measured in the gas rest reference frame. For a fluid flow past a stationary body, the same Mach number uses the local fluid speed in the body's rest reference frame. A Mach number below, equal to, or above one means subsonic flow, sonic flow, or supersonic flow, respectively. The denominator is a property of the local gas: its sound speed depends on temperature and composition.^[ref]

The relative velocity matters even when the body is at rest in a wind tunnel. A uniform change of reference frame subtracts the same velocity from body and gas, so their relative velocity and the Mach number stay unchanged under a Galilean transformation. Ground speed alone cannot supply $U$ when there is wind. For an original collinear example, a body moving at $680\mathrm{m}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$ over the ground through gas moving in the same direction at $170\mathrm{m}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$ has $U=510\mathrm{m}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$. With a stipulated sound speed $c=340\mathrm{m}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$, its Mach number is $1.5$, rather than $2$. A moving observer changes apparent acoustic wave arrival times, as in the radial Mach number, without changing the body's Mach number relative to the gas.

Why is the threshold one so useful? Acoustic waves carry small pressure disturbances at the sound speed. In subsonic flow, such information can travel upstream relative to the body; in a uniform supersonic flow, it is swept downstream. The Mach cone turns this difference in communication into visible geometry. Matching Mach number between a wind tunnel and flight is therefore essential to matching compressible flow effects.^[ref]

An actual supersonic wind tunnel experiment makes the distinction between wavefronts and shock waves concrete. In NASA Glenn's 1-by-1-foot wind tunnel, interchangeable converging-diverging nozzle blocks set the Mach number. A strut-mounted exhaust-nozzle model had a nosecone, an air plenum and transparent sidewalls for schlieren photography. Before installing the model, the researchers photographed the empty test section: two shock wave patterns originated at a wall joint after the nozzle block. This control guided model placement to keep reflected shock waves away from the plume-study region. The rig included internal total pressure and static pressure sensing and a traversing external static pressure probe. A baseline nozzle and previous pressure data supplied a planned validation comparison; the report distinguishes this plan from the observed empty-tunnel control. This establishes an apparatus origin for those visible shock waves, not a measurement of the Mach cone from an infinitesimal source. The reported finite shock wave angle cannot simply be inserted into the Mach angle formula to calibrate $M$: shock wave strength and geometry also matter.^[ref]

In conventional schlieren photography, a bright slit source and two concave mirrors send parallel light rays through the wind tunnel and focus them at a knife edge before an optical camera. Spatial changes in mass density cause refraction; the knife edge converts the deflection into image contrast, making shock waves visible. This is the general optical principle, rather than a specification of every component in the preceding rig. A photograph projects a three-dimensional fluid flow into two dimensions; contrast alone does not provide a calibrated pressure jump or acoustic wave amplitude.^[ref]

A nozzle shapes a passage to control the speed and direction of a fluid flow. In compressible flow, converging-diverging passages can accelerate a gas through a sonic flow throat into supersonic flow.

For one-dimensional isentropic compressible flow, continuity and momentum balance areSet $Q(\rho )={\int }_{{\rho }_0}^{\rho }c(s)ds/s$. Combining the equations gives the Riemann invariantsFor the power-law equation of state, $c=c_0(\rho /{\rho }_0{)}^{(\gamma -1)/2}$ and direct integration gives $Q=2(c-c_0)/(\gamma -1)$.

In the expansion into the region left of the undisturbed gas, the invariant $u-Q$ remains zero. Hence $c=c_0+(\gamma -1)u/2$. In the centred simple wave, the other characteristic speed equals $\xi =x/t=u+c$, givingWhen the gas follows the piston, $u=-V$ at the piston and $c_p=c_0-(\gamma -1)V/2$. This requires $V<2c_0/(\gamma -1)$ for positive density. The three gas regions areAt the threshold the uniform region collapses. If $V$ exceeds the threshold, a vacuum gap separates the piston from the gas, whose free edge moves at $-2c_0/(\gamma -1)$.

A particle initially at $x_0>0$ stays at rest until the fan head arrives at $t_0=x_0/c_0$. Afterwards it lies in the fan and satisfiesMultiplication by $t^{-2/(\gamma +1)}$ and integration give $x=C{t}^{2/(\gamma +1)}-2c_{0}t/(\gamma -1)$. Matching $x(t_0)=x_0$ determines $C$, yieldingSince $2/(\gamma +1)<1$, differentiating provesThus each fixed particle approaches the velocity of the vacuum edge.

Expanding the kinetic helicity conservation law separates advection from the other flux:Thus material conservation of kinetic helicity density holds precisely whenAn especially useful sufficient pair of conditions is incompressible flow, $\nabla \cdot \mathbf{u}=0$, and constancy of $w-u^2/2$ along integral curves of the vorticity, $\mathbf{\omega }\cdot \nabla (w-u^2/2)=0$. Together these conditions make both terms vanish without cancellation. They are not necessary individually, because the two terms in the displayed balance can cancel. An irrotational flow is a trivial conserved case with $q=0$.

For contrast, combining the balance with mass conservation givesConsequently constancy of $w-u^2/2$ along integral curves of the vorticity makes $q/\rho$ an advected scalar even in compressible flow; it does not generally make $q$ itself constant.

For one-dimensional compressible flow, define the total energy densityThe conservative mass, momentum, and energy equations areA monatomic nonrelativistic perfect gas has $\gamma =5/3$, an ultrarelativistic gas or radiation-dominated fluid has $\gamma =4/3$, and a rotationally active diatomic gas has $\gamma =7/5$.

The Rankine-Hugoniot condition expresses conservation laws across a moving discontinuity of a weak solution. Across a discontinuity $x=\sigma t$ in $u_t+f(u{)}_x=0$, with left and right states $u_{-}$ and $u_{+}$, conservation requiresWriting $[u]=u_{+}-u_{-}$ and $[f(u)]=f(u_{+})-f(u_{-})$ gives $\sigma [u]=[f(u)]$. The same relation holds componentwise for a system of conservation laws; in compressible flow, conservation of mass, momentum and energy supplies the jump conditions for a shock wave. Integrating the weak solution identity over a thin space-time region crossing the discontinuity yields this balance between the swept-up conserved quantity and the difference of fluxes.

A Riemann problem for a one-dimensional system of conservation laws ${\partial }_{t}U+{\partial }_{x}f(U)=0$ has two constant initial states, $U_L$ for $x<0$ and $U_R$ for $x>0$. The data and equation are invariant under $(x,t)\mapsto (\lambda x,\lambda t)$. When the physically admissible entropy solution is unique, this invariance makes it a self-similar solution depending on $x/t$. For ideal-gas compressible flow, the characteristic speeds are $u-c,u,u+c$. The two acoustic families carry shock waves or rarefaction waves, while the middle family carries a contact discontinuity. Sufficiently strong separating velocities can instead create a vacuum region.

For $\gamma >1$ and positive mass density and pressure, let $\xi =x/t$ in one-dimensional adiabatic compressible flow. The smooth equations are $(u-\xi ){\rho }^{\prime }+\rho u^{\prime }=0$, $(u-\xi )u^{\prime }+p^{\prime }/\rho =0$ and $(u-\xi )p^{\prime }+\gamma p{u}^{\prime }=0$. Away from a constant branch, their coefficient determinant forces $\xi =u+\sigma c$ with $\sigma =\pm 1$ and adiabatic sound speed $c=\sqrt{\gamma p/\rho }$. The entropy equation gives $p=K{\rho }^{\gamma }$, and combining continuity with $c^{\prime }/c=(\gamma -1){\rho }^{\prime }/(2\rho )$ givesThus $u=[2\xi +(\gamma -1)J]/(\gamma +1)$, $c=\sigma (\gamma -1)(\xi -J)/(\gamma +1)$, $\rho =(c^2/(\gamma K){)}^{1/(\gamma -1)}$ and $p=K{\rho }^{\gamma }$, on intervals where $c>0$. The specific entropy is constant. Together with uniform branches, these exhaust smooth positive-gas self-similar solutions; a contact discontinuity is not a smooth fan.

A smooth radial compressible flow with a fixed adiabatic exponent conserves $r^2\rho u$ and $p/{\rho }^{\gamma }$. In a prescribed Newtonian gravitational potential, its Bernoulli function is $u^2/2+c^2/(\gamma -1)+\Phi$, with $c$ the adiabatic sound speed. Eliminating the density derivative yields $(u-c^2/u)u^{\prime }=2c^2/r-{\Phi }^{\prime }$.

The pressure obtained by bringing a flow to rest without losses; in compressible flow the usual definition specifies an isentropic process for stopping. For the constant-mass density, same-height Bernoulli equation discussed under dynamic pressure, $p_0=p+q$.

A compressible flow that passes between subsonic and supersonic regions. A smooth steady crossing of a sonic point requires the corresponding regularity condition; a discontinuous transition can instead involve a shock wave.

The viscous stress tensor is the part of the Cauchy stress tensor associated with deformation rates. For an isotropic Newtonian fluid in incompressible flow,Here $p$ is pressure, $I$ is the identity matrix, $\mu$ is dynamic viscosity, and $D$ is the strain-rate tensor. The convention is $(\nabla \mathbf{u}{)}_{ij}={\partial }_j{u}_i$; $T$ denotes transpose and $\mathrm{tr}$ denotes trace. Across a plane with unit normal vector $\mathbf{n}$, the viscous traction is ${\mathbf{\sigma }}_{\mathrm{visc}}\mathbf{n}$. The tensor makes this rule work for any plane orientation. ^[ref]

In the worked Couette flow, $\mathbf{u}=(Uy/h,0,0)$, soIn particular, $D_{xy}=10{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$ while the shear rate is $20{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$; the factor $2$ in $2\mu D$ recovers ${\tau }_{xy}=2\mathrm{Pa}$. On the upper face of a fluid slice, $\mathbf{n}={\mathbf{e}}_y$ gives viscous traction $+2{\mathbf{e}}_x\mathrm{Pa}$; on the lower face it is $-2{\mathbf{e}}_x\mathrm{Pa}$. Constant stress can therefore transmit a force between the plates even though its divergence, and the net viscous force on each slice, vanish.

Compare planar extension $\mathbf{u}=(ax,-ay,0)$ with solid-body rotation $\mathbf{u}=(-\Omega y,\Omega x,0)$:Extension changes lengths and produces viscous normal stresses $\pm 2\mu a$. Rotation preserves distances and gives zero viscous stress, despite its nonzero velocity gradient and vorticity $2\Omega {\mathbf{e}}_z$. For $a=\Omega =1{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$ and $\mu =0.10\mathrm{Pa}\mathrm{s}$, extension gives ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{visc},xx}=0.20\mathrm{Pa}$ and ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{visc},yy}=-0.20\mathrm{Pa}$; rotation gives zero. A rotating fluid may still have a pressure gradient supplying its centripetal acceleration.

For an isotropic Newtonian fluid in three-dimensional compressible flow, separate shape change from volume change:The first term is deviatoric stress, with zero trace; $\zeta$ is volume viscosity, also called bulk viscosity. For uniform expansion $\mathbf{u}=b\mathbf{x}$, $D=bI$ and $\nabla \cdot \mathbf{u}=3b$, so the shear contribution vanishes and the viscous stress is $3\zeta bI$. Thus dynamic viscosity and volume viscosity describe distinct responses, and incompressible flow removes only the volume-change term. ^[ref]