

The same effect is produced when the observers move relative to the source. The opposite is true for the observer on the left, where the wavelength is increased and the frequency is reduced. The wavelength is reduced and, consequently, the frequency is increased in the direction of motion, so that the observer on the right hears a higher-pitch sound. Sounds emitted by a source moving to the right spread out from the points at which they were emitted. Because the source, observers, and air are stationary, the wavelength and frequency are the same in all directions and to all observers. Sounds emitted by a source spread out in spherical waves.

The observer moving toward the source receives them at a higher frequency, and the person moving away from the source receives them at a lower frequency. Finally, if the observers move, as in Figure 3, the frequency at which they receive the compressions changes. Thus, the wavelength is shorter in the direction the source is moving (on the right in Figure 2), and longer in the opposite direction (on the left in Figure 2). This moving emission point causes the air compressions to be closer together on one side and farther apart on the other. Each compression of the air moves out in a sphere from the point where it was emitted, but the point of emission moves. If the source is moving, as in Figure 2, then the situation is different. If the source is stationary, then all of the spheres representing the air compressions in the sound wave centered on the same point, and the stationary observers on either side see the same wavelength and frequency as emitted by the source, as in Figure 1. Each disturbance spreads out spherically from the point where the sound was emitted. What causes the Doppler shift? Figure 1, Figure 2, and Figure 3 compare sound waves emitted by stationary and moving sources in a stationary air mass. Their music was observed both on and off the train, and changes in frequency were measured. Doppler, for example, had musicians play on a moving open train car and also play standing next to the train tracks as a train passed by. The Doppler effect and Doppler shift are named for the Austrian physicist and mathematician Christian Johann Doppler (1803–1853), who did experiments with both moving sources and moving observers. The actual change in frequency due to relative motion of source and observer is called a Doppler shift. For example, if you ride a train past a stationary warning bell, you will hear the bell’s frequency shift from high to low as you pass by.

Although less familiar, this effect is easily noticed for a stationary source and moving observer.

The Doppler effect is an alteration in the observed frequency of a sound due to motion of either the source or the observer. It is so familiar that it is used to imply motion and children often mimic it in play. We also hear this characteristic shift in frequency for passing race cars, airplanes, and trains. The faster the motorcycle moves, the greater the shift. The closer the motorcycle brushes by, the more abrupt the shift. The high-pitch scream shifts dramatically to a lower-pitch roar as the motorcycle passes by a stationary observer. The characteristic sound of a motorcycle buzzing by is an example of the Doppler effect. Describe the sounds produced by objects moving faster than the speed of sound.Calculate the frequency of a sound heard by someone observing Doppler shift.Define Doppler effect, Doppler shift, and sonic boom.
