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On an airplane traveling faster than the speed of sound, a shock wave forms ahead of the wing, and the airflow's pressure, density, and temperature all increase rapidly. Things that fly naturally create disturbances in the air in the form of waves. These waves occur because things that fly push the air in front of them out of the way, like a boat in water. If something is flying close to or faster than the speed of sound, the air cannot get pushed out of the way fast enough, so the air in front of the flying object becomes compressed into a boundary that requires more force to move through, this is called a shock wave.