冲压力是流体对通其中的运动物体所施加的压力，它会对物体造成强大的阻力。

例如，当流星体经过地球的大气层时，空气被极端迅速的挤压，会在流星体的前方形成震波。冲压力 (不是摩擦力) 先加热了空气，然后空气反过来加热了在其中移动的流星体。

当星系在星系际气体中运动时，冲压力会剥离星系的恒星际气体。

当速度增加时冲压力也会增加。例如，当你在有风的场所，你的身体会感受到风的压力，风越大时压力就越强。

冲压力的值可由以下公式计算：

在这里 P 是压力、 是流体密度、而 v 则是物体速度。如果物体是静止的，v 则是流体的速度，例如太阳风。

In physics, ram pressure is a pressure exerted on a body that is moving through a fluid medium. It causes a strong drag force to be exerted on the body. It is given by:

where is the pressure, is the density of the fluid and the relative velocity between the body and the fluid. For example, a meteor traveling through Earth's atmosphere produces a shock wave generated by the extremely rapid compression of air in front of the meteoroid. It is primarily this ram pressure (rather than friction) that heats the air that in turn heats the meteoroid as it flows around it.