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SUMMARY
DOPPLER
Sound: The Doppler Effect p. 171–183

REVISION Gr 10
Note: these definitions are not part of CAPS. You only have to have a good understanding of the concepts.

 Types of waves:
 Transverse: The disturbance of the particles in the medium is perpendicular to the direction of
propagation of the waves. Examples: light, water.
 Longitudinal: The disturbance of the particles in the medium is parallel to the direction of
propagation of the waves. Example: sound.

 Terminology:
 Wave length () (in meter): Transverse: water
 the distance between 2 consecutive points in phase.
 the distance between 2 consecutive compressions (or
rarefactions).
 Frequency (f) (in Hz):
 the number of vibrations that passes a point in one
second.
 the number of compressions (or rarefactions) that

passes a point in one second.
 Period (T) (in seconds):
 the time that passes when one complete Longitudinal: sound
wave passes a point. 
 the time that passes for one compression and one
rarefaction to pass a point.

compression rarefaction

SPEED OF A SOUND


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Speed of the wave (v) = the rate of change in distance of the propagation of the wave (in m·s ):

 The wave equation for speed: v=fx Also:

 The speed of the sound is dependent on the medium in which it is propagated. The speed of sound in a
specific medium, therefore, is constant.
 ∴ for constant speed (constant medium), the frequency is inversely proportional to the
wavelength.

; v constant


 The speed in a specific medium is determined (among others) by

 temperature (speed is greater at higher temperatures);
 density (e.g. speed is greater in solids than in liquids).

 The speed of sound is not an absolute value, and therefore do not appear on the data sheet of
constants. In all calculations where the speed of sound is needed, the value of that particular medium
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in will be supplied in the question. It is usually around 340 m.s in air and 1500 m.s in water.

 speed in km.h
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÷ 3,6 speed in m.s
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PITCH OF SOUND

 For sounds in the same medium the pitch is as follows:

 A sound with high pitch has a high frequency and a short wavelength.
 A sound with low pitch has a low frequency and a long wavelength.

high pitch: low pitch:

 high frequency  low frequency
 short wavelength  long wavelength

 Ultrasound: sound waves with higher pitch than audible sound.

THE DOPPLER EFFECT

 The Doppler effect = The observed change in frequency (and therefore the pitch) of sound when the
source of the sound moves relative to the listener or the listener moves relative to the source.

 The Doppler equation:

 fL = Frequency of the sound heard by the listener in Hz;
 fS = Frequency of sound emitted by the source in Hz; =

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v = Speed of sound (in m·s );

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vL = Speed of the motion of the listener (in m·s );

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vS = Speed of the motion of the source of sound (in m·s ).

 Suppose an ambulance (the source of sound) produces sound waves with wave length  and frequency
fS. The sound is propagated in all directions (Fig.1).
 When the ambulance moves (Fig. 2):
 the wave length of the sound wave that reaches listener A, is shorter;
∴ a higher frequency and therefore a higher pitch. (f L (for listener A) > fS).
 the wave length of the sound wave that reaches listener B, is longer;
∴ a lower frequency and therefore a lower pitch. (f L (for listener B) < fS).


 
B A
Fig. 1: Not moving Fig 2: Moving forward

 Choose the signs as follows: towards each other away from each other Always write the full
Doppler equation first
before you make a
choice of sign.

GRAPHS

 Sound waves are successive

 compressions (high concentration of air molecules ∴ high pressure);
 and rarefactions (low concentration of air molecules ∴ low pressure).
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 Sound waves can therefore be represented transverse:

Pressure
Distance (m)

 The wavelength of the sound wave can be deducted from the graph. Remember v=fx
the wave equation to calculate speed or frequency from the wavelength:

 When a sound source moves towards and then away from a stationary observer, the frequency can be
represented as follows:

towards
Frequency

fL1

away
fL2

t Time

 fL1: The (constant) frequency that observer hears as die source moves towards him (fL1 > fS).
 fL2: The (constant) frequency that observer hears as die source moves away from him (fL1 < fS).
 t: The time that the source is directly across the observer.

You must just state the

APPLICATION OF THE DOPPLER EFFECT applications.

 Doppler flow meter: Determines the speed of blood by placing a transmitter and receiver of ultrasound
on the skin. The transmitter emits sound waves that are reflected from a moving red blood cell. The
Doppler flow meter measures the Doppler effect: the change in frequency of the reflected sound from
the moving blood cell. This is used to determine the speed of blood flow.
 Doppler radar: Is used in weather stations to detect precipitation (rain, hail, snow). Radio waves are
send by a sender. These waves are reflected by moving objects such as raindrops and hail. The
reflected waves are analyzed to determine the speed and direction of the precipitate.

DOPPLER EFFEC AND LIGHT

 White light can by broken up into 7 colours with increasing frequency: red, orange, yellow, green, blue,
indigo, violet.
 White light is a mixture of these 7 colours.
long wavelength short wavelength
low frequency high frequency
red

green

indigo
orange

blue

violet
yellow

 Stars are heavenly bodies that emit white light.

 If a star moves towards the earth, it is observed that the frequency of the light increases, and the
light received on earth is more blue in colour ∴ higher frequencies. This is known as a blue shift.
 If a star moves away from the earth, it is observed that the frequency of light decreases, and the light
received on earth is more reddish in colour, ∴ lower frequencies. This is called a red shift.

 Because redshift is much more common than blue shift, it is a proof that the universe is expanding,
∴ the galaxies are moving further away from the earth. This means not only that the galaxies are
moving away from us through space, but that space itself expands: ∴ the space between galaxies is
expanding.