Mach number is "the ratio of the speed of a body to the speed of sound in the surrounding medium" (Oxford Languages). Put simply, it's a ratio comparing the local flow velocity to the speed of sound in the medium.
It is represented with the following formula. M is the mach number, u is the local flow velocity, and c is the speed of the sound in the medium.
![\boxed{\displaystyle M=(u)/(c) }](https://img.qammunity.org/2023/formulas/physics/high-school/8e6on4iur38pc04tynzel1u2d3isvcg9uv.png)