Once it reaches the speed of sound, the waves bunch up creating a shock front that forms a loud sonic boom. When a rocket, for example, travels through air, it generates pressure waves in front that move away from it at the speed of sound, and the closer the rocket reaches that sound barrier, the less time the waves have to move out of the object's path. Particles, like these electrons, that surpass the speed of light in water, or some other medium such as glass, create a shock wave similar to the shock wave from a sonic boom.
In water, light travels at 75 % the speed it would in the vacuum of outer space, but the electrons created by the reaction inside of the core travel through the water faster than the light does. Cherenkov radiation glows because the core of the Advanced Test Reactor is submerged in water to keep it cool.
0 kommentar(er)
