Which process causes increased drag when an aircraft approaches the speed of sound?

💡 Explanation

When an aircraft approaches the speed of sound, compressibility effects become significant, leading to the formation of shockwaves and increased wave drag because of energy dissipation. Therefore wave drag results, rather than molecular dissociation, separation, or thickening which occur through different mechanisms and conditions.

• Which mechanical impact results when a stationary object suddenly gains relativistic mass?
• Which consequence results when excessively increasing power modulating the laser diode within fiber optic gyroscopes used for inertial navigation systems?
• Which outcome results when soot accumulates on a heat exchanger in a combustion engine?
• Which risk increases when surface treatment of a catalyst is flawed?
• Which risk increases when magnetically confined fusion plasma cools?
• Which risk specifically increases when a cryogenic storage vessel warms?