how strong is a shockwave
Schlieren photograph of an attached shock on a sharp-nosed supersonic body. In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance. When a wave moves faster than the local speed of sound in a fluid it is a shock wave. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy, and can propagate through a medium; however it is characterized by an abrupt, nearly discontinuous change in pressure, temperature and density of the medium.