Is "creating a piercing shockwave" a gerund phrase in the sentence "Air pressure is deflected at light speed, creating a piercing shockwave."

Question

I'm trying to understand and break this sentence down, and this is what I have so far.

"Air pressure" (subject) "[is]" (implied linking verb) "deflected" (main verb) at light speed" (prepositional phrase that modifies 'deflected')...

"creating" (gerund?) "a piercing" (adjective describing shockwave) shockwave (direct object?).

Answer 1

Creating a piercing shockwave is a a participle phrase becaus it is an adjective to air pressure. It does not act as a noun. Gerunds are always nouns. Since you can’t substitute a noun for creating, it is not a gerund. It is an adjective.