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The Doppler Effect

The document discusses the Doppler effect, which is when the observed frequency of a wave is different from the emitted frequency due to relative motion between the source and observer. Specifically: - The Doppler effect causes the observed frequency to increase (upward shift) if the source is moving toward the observer, and decrease (downward shift) if the source is moving away. This is due to the decreasing or increasing distance between source and observer over time. - The effect applies to all types of waves, including sound, light, and water waves. A common example is the change in siren pitch as an emergency vehicle passes by. - Astronomers use the Doppler effect to study stars and galaxies, determining properties based

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Leon Mathaios
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72 views2 pages

The Doppler Effect

The document discusses the Doppler effect, which is when the observed frequency of a wave is different from the emitted frequency due to relative motion between the source and observer. Specifically: - The Doppler effect causes the observed frequency to increase (upward shift) if the source is moving toward the observer, and decrease (downward shift) if the source is moving away. This is due to the decreasing or increasing distance between source and observer over time. - The effect applies to all types of waves, including sound, light, and water waves. A common example is the change in siren pitch as an emergency vehicle passes by. - Astronomers use the Doppler effect to study stars and galaxies, determining properties based

Uploaded by

Leon Mathaios
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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3/1/2017 TheDopplerEffect

TheDopplerEffect
BoundaryBehavior
Reflection,Refraction,andDiffraction
InterferenceofWaves
TheDopplerEffect

Supposethatthereisahappybuginthecenterofacircularwaterpuddle.Thebugisperiodically
shakingitslegsinordertoproducedisturbancesthattravelthroughthewater.If
thesedisturbancesoriginateatapoint,thentheywouldtraveloutwardfromthat
pointinalldirections.Sinceeachdisturbanceistravelinginthesamemedium,
theywouldalltravelineverydirectionatthesamespeed.Thepatternproduced
bythebug's shakingwouldbeaseriesofconcentriccirclesasshowninthe
diagramattheright.Thesecircleswouldreachtheedgesofthewaterpuddleat
thesamefrequency.AnobserveratpointA(theleftedgeofthepuddle)would
observethedisturbancestostrikethepuddle'sedgeatthesamefrequencythat
wouldbeobservedbyanobserveratpointB(attherightedgeofthepuddle).In
fact,thefrequencyatwhichdisturbancesreachtheedgeofthepuddlewouldbethesameasthe
frequencyatwhichthebugproducesthedisturbances.Ifthebugproducesdisturbancesatafrequency
of2persecond,theneachobserverwouldobservethemapproachingatafrequencyof2persecond.
Nowsupposethatourbugismovingtotherightacrossthepuddleofwaterandproducingdisturbances
atthesamefrequencyof2disturbancespersecond.Sincethebugismoving
towardstheright,eachconsecutivedisturbanceoriginatesfromapositionthatis
closertoobserverBandfartherfromobserverA.Subsequently,eachconsecutive
disturbancehasashorterdistancetotravelbeforereachingobserverBandthus
takeslesstimetoreachobserverB.Thus,observerBobservesthatthefrequency
ofarrivalofthedisturbancesishigherthanthefrequencyatwhichdisturbances
areproduced.Ontheotherhand,eachconsecutivedisturbancehasafurther
distancetotravelbeforereachingobserverA.Forthisreason,observerA
observesafrequencyofarrivalthatislessthanthefrequencyatwhichthe
disturbancesareproduced.Theneteffectofthemotionofthebug(thesourceofwaves)isthatthe
observertowardswhomthebugismovingobservesafrequencythatishigherthan2
disturbances/secondandtheobserverawayfromwhomthebugismovingobservesafrequencythatis
lessthan2disturbances/second.ThiseffectisknownastheDopplereffect.

WhatistheDopplerEffect?
TheDopplereffectisobservedwheneverthesourceofwavesismovingwithrespecttoanobserver.
TheDopplereffectcanbedescribedastheeffectproducedbyamovingsourceofwavesinwhich
thereisanapparentupwardshiftinfrequencyforobserverstowardswhomthesourceisapproaching
andanapparentdownwardshiftinfrequencyforobserversfromwhomthesourceisreceding.Itis
importanttonotethattheeffectdoesnotresultbecauseofanactualchangeinthefrequencyofthe
source.Usingtheexampleabove,thebugisstillproducingdisturbancesatarateof2disturbancesper
seconditjustappearstotheobserverwhomthebugisapproachingthatthedisturbancesarebeing
producedatafrequencygreaterthan2disturbances/second.Theeffectisonlyobservedbecausethe
distancebetweenobserverBandthebugisdecreasingandthedistancebetweenobserverAandthe
bugisincreasing.
TheDopplereffectcanbeobservedforanytypeofwavewaterwave,soundwave,lightwave,etc.We
aremostfamiliarwiththeDopplereffectbecauseofourexperienceswithsoundwaves.Perhapsyou
recallaninstanceinwhichapolicecaroremergencyvehiclewastravelingtowardsyouonthehighway.
Asthecarapproachedwithitssirenblasting,thepitchofthesirensound(ameasureofthesiren's
frequency)washighandthensuddenlyafterthecarpassedby,thepitchofthesirensoundwaslow.
ThatwastheDopplereffectanapparentshiftinfrequencyforasoundwaveproducedbyamoving
source.
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/waves/Lesson3/TheDopplerEffect 1/2
3/1/2017 TheDopplerEffect

TheDopplerEffectinAstronomy
TheDopplereffectisofintenseinteresttoastronomerswhousetheinformationabouttheshiftin
frequencyofelectromagneticwavesproducedbymovingstarsinourgalaxyandbeyondinorderto
deriveinformationaboutthosestarsandgalaxies.Thebeliefthattheuniverseisexpandingisbasedin
partuponobservationsofelectromagneticwavesemittedbystarsindistantgalaxies.Furthermore,
specificinformationaboutstarswithingalaxiescanbedeterminedbyapplicationoftheDopplereffect.
Galaxiesareclustersofstarsthattypicallyrotateaboutsomecenterofmasspoint.Electromagnetic
radiationemittedbysuchstarsinadistantgalaxywouldappeartobeshifteddownwardinfrequency
(a redshift
)ifthestarisrotatinginitsclusterinadirectionthatisawayfromtheEarth.Ontheother
hand,thereisanupwardshiftinfrequency(a blueshift
)ofsuchobservedradiationifthestaris
rotatinginadirectionthatistowardstheEarth.

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/waves/Lesson3/TheDopplerEffect 2/2

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