Ram pressure is a pressure exerted on a body which is moving through a fluid medium. It can be said that the molecules in the fluid(only two known fluids i.e, liquids and gases) 'ram' onto the moving particles creating pressure. It causes a strong drag force to be exerted on the body. It is given by:
P = ρv2
where P is the pressure, ρ(rho) is the density of the fluid and v the velocity of the body. Alternatively the body can be stationary and v describe the velocity of the fluid, e.g. the solar wind.
The best example for this is a meteor traveling through the Earth's atmosphere which produces a shock wave generated by the extremely rapid compression of air(the state doesn't change to plasma state) in front of the meteoroid. It is primarily this ram pressure (and not friction, mainly) which heats the air which in turn heats the meteoroid as it flows around it.
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