Skip to content

Isentropic Flow Relations

Isentropic relations connect static and stagnation quantities for a calorically perfect gas under adiabatic, reversible flow.

Governing Relations

For Mach number \(M\) and ratio of specific heats \(\gamma\):

\[ \frac{T}{T_0} = \left(1 + \frac{\gamma - 1}{2}M^2\right)^{-1} \]
\[ \frac{p}{p_0} = \left(\frac{T}{T_0}\right)^{\gamma/(\gamma-1)} \]
\[ \frac{\rho}{\rho_0} = \left(\frac{T}{T_0}\right)^{1/(\gamma-1)} \]
\[ \frac{A}{A^*} = \frac{1}{M}\left[\frac{2}{\gamma+1}\left(1+\frac{\gamma-1}{2}M^2\right)\right]^{\frac{\gamma+1}{2(\gamma-1)}} \]

References

Anderson, J. D. (2003). Modern Compressible Flow: With Historical Perspective, 3rd ed. McGraw-Hill, Chapter 3.