The Doppler Effect for sound is described by the equation

v  vo
fo  f s sound only
v vs
v  vs  0  vs  v
v  vo  0  vo  v

fo observed (detected) frequency

v speed of sound in the medium

The upper signs apply for the relative approach of the source and
observer. The lower signs, for relative recession. Note: the symbol v
represents the magnitude of the velocity only. Remember that the
magnitude of a vector is always a positive quantity. The  signs are
not used to indicate a direction. The choice of sign is based upon
whether the resulting motion would increase or decrease the
observed frequency. Hence, the signs to use can be determined by
the information displayed in Table 1 and by understanding the
images of the Doppler Effect in figure (1).

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Table 1. Doppler Effect

source vs observer vo observed

stationary stationary = fo

stationary receding < fo

stationary approaching > fo

receding stationary < fo

approaching stationary > fo

receding receding < fo

approaching approaching > fo

approaching receding ?

receding approaching ?

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There are many important applications on the Doppler Effect and a
few examples include:
police microwave speed units

measuring the speed of a tennis ball

measuring the speed of blood flowing through an artery

monitoring the heart-beat of a developing fetus

burglar alarms

sonar: ships & submarines to detect submerged objects

detecting distance planets

observing the motion of oscillating stars

Do a web search to find out more about Doppler Effect and its
applications.

View Animations

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Fig. 1. Schematic diagrams of the Doppler Effect for a
moving source. In front of the moving source the wavefronts
bunch together, hence the wavelength is smaller and the
frequency increased. Behind the moving source, the
wavefronts spread out, hence the wavelength is larger and
the frequency decreased. When the speed of the source is
equal or greater than the wave speed, the wavefronts merge
producing a large disturbance (superposition principle) and a
bow wave [2D] or shock wave [3D] is generated.

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BOW and SHOCK WAVES

Interesting effects occur when the speed of a source is as great or

front of the source as shown in figure 1.

A boat travelling through the

A supersonic aircraft generates a three-dimensional shock wave. The

We don’t heat a sonic boom from slower than sound aircraft as the
sound waves reaching us are perceived as one continuous tone.
However, when a plane travels faster than the speed of sound, the
wavefronts coalesce and the observer hears a single burst of sound
because of the high / low pressures that are generated in the sound
wave. The shock wave is actually made up of two cones: a high-
pressure cone with the its apex at the front tip of the plane and the
low-pressure cone with its apex at the tail.

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A common misconception is that sonic booms are produced when
aircraft fly through the sound barrier (speed of plane becomes
greater than the speed of sound). This is not the case. A sonic boom
is swept continuously behind and below the plane.

When a whip is cracked, the cracking sound

An aircraft producing a
cloud of water vapour
that condenses out of
the rapidly expanding air
in the rarefied region
behind a wall of
compressed air.

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Example
A train whistle is blown by the driver who hears the sound at
650 Hz. If the train is heading towards a station at 20.0 m.s-1, what
will the whistle sound like to a waiting commuter? Take the speed
of sound to be 340 m.s-1.

Solution
fs = 650 Hz vs = 20 m.s-1 vo = 0 m.s-1 v = 340 m.s-1
fo = ? Hz (must be higher since train approaches observer).

v  vo v  340 
fo  fs  fs   650    Hz  691 Hz
v vs v  vs  340  20 

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Case 2

 345  22.22 
f o   400    Hz  394 Hz
 345  27.78 

Case 3

 345  22.22 
f o   400    Hz  463 Hz
 345  27.78 

Case 4

 345  22.22 
f o   400    Hz  346 Hz
 345  27.78 

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