VISUAL PHYSICS ONLINE

Module 3.1 WAVES

DOPPLER EFFECT FOR SOUND

DOPPLER EFFECT - motion related frequency

changes

Christian Doppler was an Austrian

mathematician who lived between 1803-1853.
Doppler was the son of a stonemason, who went
on to become a celebrated academic and
scientist. After young Christian completed
school, he studied astronomy and mathematics in Salzburg and
Vienna, and at the age of 38 went on to work at the Prague
Polytechnic in Czechoslovakia. On 17 March 1853, at the age of only
49, Christian Doppler died from a respiratory disease in Venice (which
was then still a part of the vast, wealthy Austrian Empire) and he’s
still interred there, on the Venetian island cemetery of San Michele,
where one can visit his tomb.

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He is known for the principle he proposed in concerning the coloured
light of double stars in 1842. This principle is now known as the
Doppler Effect. He also hypothesized that the pitch of a sound would
change if the source of the sound was moving. Doppler's hypothesis
was tested by Buys Ballot in 1845. He used two sets of trumpeters:
one set stationary at a train station and one set moving on an open
train car. Both sets of musicians had perfect pitch and held the same
note. As the train passed the station, it was obvious that the
frequency of the two notes didn't match, even though the musicians
were playing the same note. This provided evidence to support
Doppler's hypothesis. Later, a scientist named Fizeau generalized
Doppler's work by applying his theory not only to sound but also to
light. The Doppler Effect is the change in frequency (wavelength) of a
wave detected by an observer due to the relative motion between
the observer and the source of the sound. It applies to all sorts of
waves, including sound waves and light waves.
A common example of the Doppler Effect is
the change in pitch observed as a fire engine
passes an observer. When the fire engine is
approaching, the pitch sounds higher than
the actual emitted frequency. When the fire
engine passes by, the frequency sounds the same as the actual
emitted frequency and when the fire engine is moving away, the
pitch is observed to be lower than the actual emitted frequency.

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When the source of the waves is moving towards the observer, each
successive wave crest is emitted from a position closer to the
observer than the previous wave. Therefore, each wave takes slightly
less time to reach the observer than the previous wave - the distance
between successive wave fronts is reduced (wavelength decreased),
so the waves bunch together. Hence, the time between the arrival of
successive wave crests at the observer is reduced, causing an
increase in the frequency. Conversely, if the source of waves is
moving away from the observer, each wave is emitted from a
position farther from the observer than the previous wave - the
distance between successive wave fronts is then increased
(wavelength increased), so the waves "spread out". Therefore, the
arrival time between successive waves is increased, reducing the
frequency.

For waves that propagate in a medium, such as sound, the velocity of

the observer and of the source are relative to the medium in which
the waves are transmitted. The total Doppler Effect may therefore
result from motion of the source, motion of the observer, or motion
of the medium. Each of these effects is analysed separately. For
waves which do not require a medium such as light, only the relative
velocity between the observer and the source needs to be
considered.

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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

vo observer’s speed relative to the medium
fs frequency of oscillations of the source signal
vs velocity of source relative to the medium

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

frequency fo

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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Fig. 2. Doppler shifted frequency versus speed for a 1000 Hz
source. Green curve: speed of sound is 340 m.s-1. Blue
curve: source moving towards a stationary observer - the
frequency grows without limit as the speed of the source
approaches the speed of sound, if the source moves faster
than the speed of sound it produces not a pure tone but a
shock wave. CBlack curve: source moving away from a
stationary observer – frequency decreases with increasing
speed of recession. Red curve: observer moving towards a
stationary source – approximately a linear increase in
frequency with speed. Magenta curve: observer moving
away from stationary source – approximately a linear
decrease in frequency with speed of recession.

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BOW and SHOCK WAVES

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

greater than the speed of the wave  vs  v  . The waves pile up in

front of the source as shown in figure 1.

A boat travelling through the

water (speed of boat is larger
than the speed of the water
wave) generates a two-
dimensional bow wave where
the waves overlap at the edges producing a V shaped wave front.

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

shock wave is generated by overlapping spheres that form a cone
shaped wavefront.

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

is a sonic boom produced by the tip of the
whip travelling faster than the speed of
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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Example
An ambulance travels down a straight section of highway at a
speed of 100 km.h-1, its siren emitting sound at a frequency of
400 Hz. What frequency is heard by a passenger in a car travelling
on the same highway at a speed of 80 km.h-1 Consider all
possibilities.
Speed of sound in air is 345 m.s-1.
Solution
The first steps are to visualise the
problem.

Consider all the possible relative motions of the ambulance and

car, then draw an annotated scientific diagram
v  vo
fo  f s
v vs

f s  400 Hz v  345 m.s -1 f o  ? Hz

vs  100 km.h -1  27.78 m.s -1
vo  80 km.h -1  22.22 m.s -1

Case 1

 345  22.22 
f o   400    Hz  407 Hz
 345  27.78 

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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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Example
A train travelling at 25 m.s-1 sounds its horn at a frequency of 800.0
Hz as it approaches a tunnel in a cliff.
(a) What is the frequency observed for a person standing near
the entrance of the tunnel?
(b) The sound from the horn reflects off the cliff back to the
train driver. What does the train driver hear?

Speed of sound in air is 345 m.s-1.

Solution

The first steps are to visualise the problem and draw an annotated
scientific diagram
v  vo
Doppler Effect f o  f s
v vs

(a)

f s  800 Hz v  345 m.s -1 f o  ? Hz

vs  25.0 m.s -1 vo  0 m.s -1

 345 
f o   800    Hz  863 Hz
 345  25 

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(b)

f s  870 Hz v  345 m.s -1 f o  ? Hz

vs  0 m.s -1 vo  25 m.s -1

 345  25 
f o   870    Hz  933 Hz
 345 

The train driver would the beat pattern from the superposition of
the original sound at 800 Hz and the reflected sound at 933 Hz.
Beat frequency fbeat  f 2  f1  (933  800) Hz  133 Hz

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Example
An ultrasonic wave at 8.000104 Hz is emitted into a vein where the
speed of sound is about 1.5 km.s-1. The wave reflects off the red
blood cells moving towards the stationary receiver. If the frequency
of the returning signal is 8.002104 Hz, what is the speed of the
blood flow?

What would be the beat frequency detected and the beat period?
Draw a diagram showing the beat pattern and indicate the beat
period.

Solution
fs = 8.000×104 Hz fo = 8.002×104 Hz v = 1.5×103 m.s-1
vb = ? m.s-1

Need to consider two Doppler shifts in frequency – blood cells act

as observer and than as source.
Red blood cells (observer) moving toward source
Red blood cells (source) moving toward observer

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 v  vo v  vb
fo  fs  fs
v vs v

 v  vb   v   v  vb 
fo   fs    f s  
 v   v  vb   v  v b

 fo  1 
 fs   8.002  1 
vb  v 
f  
 1.5  103   8  m.s -1
 8.002  1 
 o f  1  8 
 s 

vb  0.19 m.s -1

fbeat = |f2-f1| = (8.002 - 8.000)×104 Hz = 20 Hz

Tbeat = 1/fbeat = 0.05 s

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Problem
The speed of blood in the aorta is normally about 0.3000 m.s-1.
What beat frequency would you expect if 4.000 MHz ultrasound
waves were directed along the blood flow and reflected from the
end of red blood cells? Assume that the sound waves travel
through the blood with a velocity of 1540 m.s-1.

Solution

v  vo
Doppler Effect f o  fs Beats f beat  f 2  f1
v vs

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Blood is moving away from source  observer moving away from
source  fo < fs

v  vo1  1.54  103  0.30 

f o1  fs1
v vs1

 4  106  
 3 

 3.999221  10 6
Hz
 1.54 10 

Wave reflected off red blood cells  source moving away from
observer  fo < fs

v  vo2  1.54  103 

f o2  fs2
v vs2

 3.999221  10 6  
 3



 3.998442  10 6
Hz
 1.54 10 0.30 

Beat frequency = | 4.00 – 3.998442| 106 Hz = 1558 Hz

In this type of calculation you must keep extra significant figures.

VISUAL PHYSICS ONLINE

If you have any feedback, comments, suggestions or corrections
please email:

Ian Cooper School of Physics University of Sydney

ian.cooper@sydney.edu.au

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