The Doppler Effect
What is the Doppler effect?
You’ve heard the Doppler effect before. Maybe you were
listening to the siren of an ambulance and heard the
frequency change as the vehicle passed you. This change in
frequency is the Doppler effect, but why does it happen?
Let’s explore this phenomenon with some animations.
Please click on the link below and WATCH the simulation.
Don’t play with it yet!! Continue through the power point.
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi
?it=swf::800::600::/sites/dl/free/0072482621/78778/Doppl
er_Nav.swf::
Doppler%20Shift%20Interactive
Observer and Source Are Stationary
• The Doppler effect is related to the frequency of the sound
heard by an observer compared to the frequency of the sound
the source actually produces.
• fs = frequency produced by the source
• fo = frequency heard by the observer
• How does fs compare to fo when the source and observer are
stationary? Look at the simulation to answer this question.
DON’T PUSH ANY BUTTONS YET! Compare the rate at which
the crests (green) and troughs (yellow) are being created to
the rate at which the observer is hearing them.
Observer and Source Are Stationary
• Without movement there is no Doppler Effect
fo = fs
Observer Stationary, Source Moving
• How does fo compare to fs when the source is
moving towards the observer?
• How does fo compare to fs when the source is
moving away from the observer?
• Use the simulation to answer these two questions.
Click on the “Source approaches” button.
• In your notes, write down your observations and
try to justify why the frequency changes in the way
it does.
Observer Stationary, Source Moving
• How does fo compare to fs when the source is moving towards the
observer?
fo > f s
– The speed at which the wave crests move remains constant. The
frequency is larger because the wavelength decreases since the source
moves in the direction the wave is moving, not allowing as much space
between crests.
Note: The source is moving to
the left. If the source is moving
towards the observer, the
wavelength is small, the waves
look “bunched” up.
Observer Stationary, Source Moving
• How does fo compare to fs when the source is moving away from
the observer?
fo < f s
– The speed at which the wave crests move remains constant. The
frequency is smaller because the wavelength increases since the source
moves in the opposite direction the wave is moving, resulting in lots of
space between crests.
Note: The source is moving to
the left. If the source is away
from the observer, the
wavelength is big, the waves
look like they are spread apart.
Observer Moving, Source Stationary
• How does fo compare to fs when the observer is
moving towards the source?
• How does fo compare to fs when the observer is
moving away from the source?
• Use the simulation to answer these two questions.
Click on the “Observer approaches” button.
• In your notes, write down your observations and
try to justify why the frequency changes in the way
it does.
Observer Moving, Source Stationary
• How does fo compare to fs when the observer is moving towards
the source?
fo > f s
– The frequency is larger because the time between hitting crests
decreases since after hitting one crest the observer moves towards the
source, hitting another crest sooner than they would if they were
stationary.
Observer Moving, Source Stationary
• How does fo compare to fs when the observer is moving away from
the source?
fo < f s
– The frequency is smaller because the time between hitting crests
increases. After one crest overtakes them, the observer moves away
from the source and the next crest takes longer to overtake them than if
they were stationary.
What does the fo depend on?
• We know that the frequency increases if the
source is moving towards the observer or the
observer is moving towards the source.
• What does the value of fo depend on?
• You can now play with the simulation for a few
minutes. Note that you can reset the animation
and then make either the source or the observer
move by grabbing onto it and moving it in a
particular direction. You will see an arrow pop
up – the bigger the arrow, the faster it will move.
What does the fo depend on?
• You should have noticed that the larger the
speed of the source or observer, the larger the
resulting frequency change.
• What would happen if the observer was
moving away from the source, but the source
was moving toward the observer? Try to
come up with a general trend for whether an
observer hears a higher or lower frequency, no
matter who is moving and in which direction.
What does the fo depend on?
• No matter which direction the source and
observer are moving:
– If the observer and the source are getting closer to
one another, fo > fs
– If the observer and the source are getting further
away from one another, fo < fs
The Doppler Effect Equation!!
Where:
fo = frequency the observer hears
fs = frequency the source produces
vo = speed of the observer
vs = speed of the source
v = speed of sound
Note: If both the observer and the source are moving, you
CANNOT consider one of the speeds to be zero and use a relative
speed for the other.
The Doppler Effect Equation!!
• EEK!! What do the and symbols mean?!?!
You will pick either + or – depending on which
direction the source/observer are moving. In
the next few slides, we will use an example to
figure out how to use this equation.
Example 1
A police car is at rest with its siren on. Imagine that the siren plays
a single tone of frequency 550 Hz. You are in your truck, moving
toward the car at a speed of 18 m/s.
(A) Is the frequency you hear greater than, equal to or less than
550 Hz?
Greater than!!
The source and object are moving toward each other.
Example 1
A police car is at rest with its siren on. Imagine that the siren plays
a single tone of frequency 550 Hz. You are in your truck, moving
toward the car at a speed of 18 m/s.
(B) Find the frequency you hear.
fs = 550 Hz
vo = 18 m/s
vs = 0
vs = 0 so we are
v = 340 m/s
left with this.
fo = ?
We know that the
frequency increases, so we
must be using the + sign.
The Doppler Effect Equation!!
Moving toward
• Top term: Moving away
(+) is used when the observer is moving toward the source
(-) is used when the observer is moving away from the source
• Bottom term:
(-) is used when the source is moving toward the observer
(+) is used when the source is moving away from the
observer
• The top sign is used for “moving toward”
• The bottom sign is used for “moving away”.
