Audibility of Sound at Mach 2: Inside the Car

[rainphan]

I'm stumped... If there exists a car that can be driven at the speed of Mach 2, will the driver still be able to hear the stereo? What are the reasons for the answer? I know that Mach 2 is twice the speed of sound, so it's unlikely that a driver would hear the sounds outside the car. However, the stereo is inside. Does it matter what speed the car is driven at if the sound is produced from the inside?

 

[chroot]

The air inside the car is stationary with respect to both the speakers and the listener, and thus sound travels as usual inside the car.

- Warren

 

[charng]

I can provide an answer to this question by considering the physics of sound and the effects of high speeds on sound propagation. At Mach 2, the speed of sound is twice the speed of the car, meaning that sound waves produced outside the car will not be able to catch up to the car and reach the driver's ears. This is known as the "sonic boom" effect, where sound waves cannot keep up with the speed of the object and create a loud, shock wave-like noise.

However, the stereo is inside the car and therefore, the sound waves it produces are also traveling at the same speed as the car. This means that the driver should still be able to hear the stereo, as long as the sound waves are not affected by any external factors such as wind or turbulence. The speed of the car should not have a significant impact on the audibility of the stereo inside the car.

Another factor to consider is the design of the car. If the car is specifically designed to reduce external noise and vibrations, then the driver may still be able to hear the stereo at Mach 2. On the other hand, if the car is not designed to minimize external noise, the driver may experience difficulty in hearing the stereo due to the loud noise created by the car's high speed.

In conclusion, while the driver may not be able to hear external sounds at Mach 2, the stereo inside the car should still be audible, depending on the design of the car and the strength of the sound waves it produces. Further research and testing would be needed to determine the exact audibility of sound inside a car traveling at Mach 2.