The principal object of study is plane flow over bodies with a sharp apex at Mach numbers greater than unity. The magnetic field is assumed to be uniform, rectilinear, and parallel to the undisturbed stream. Flow behaviour near the apex of a wedge is investigated by the method of characteristics. It is found that for small wedge angles an attached shock attenuates initially with distance from the apex, but for larger wedge angles the shock grows stronger.

The structure of a slow magneto-gasdynamic shock is investigated for the case of strong magnetic field and small electrical conductivity. The streamlines are displaced within the shock although the initial and final flow directions are the same. An ordinary gasdynamic shock may occur on the upstream side of the transition. The shock structure theory gives a solution for the flow near the apex of a certain class of bodies.

For the study of slow shock structure, it is shown that the transition is described by a curve in the (F, H)-plane. F is the sum of pressure and momentum flux in the direction of variation; H is the sum of enthalpy and kinetic energy due to the velocity component in the direction of variation. General properties of the (F, H)-plane are found for a gas whose equation of state obeys the conditions of Weyl (1949). Flow behaviour on the transition curve is then determined. The theory of the (F, H)-plane can be used in the study of other one-dimensional processes in magneto-gasdynamics.