As far as I understand, both water waves and sound waves are mechanical waves, in the sense that both are created by the relative movement of particles in a certain medium. Sound is propagation of waves in air (relative movement of air molecules), and water waves propagate in water (relative movement of water molecules).
You can see water waves to create something called a curl brake (when they tip over) as seen on the image. Since both sound waves and water waves are similar in that they both propagate on a medium, can sound waves deform, and for example create a curl brake (tip over) too?
Can sound waves deform (curl brake) like water waves?
Best Answer
They cannot "curl" because the pressure cannot become multivalued. Because of non-linear effects they can, and do, steepen. But instead of breaking, they form shockwaves in which there is very sharp jump in the pressure. An example of the steepening effect can be found in wikipedia under burgers equation