Doppler’s Effect

in light
Doppler effect in light

The phenomenon of apparent change in frequency (or wavelength) of the light

due to relative motion between the source of light and the observer is called
Doppler’s effect.
Doppler effect in light in case of approach
When a light source is moving towards an observer with a relative velocity v
then the apparent frequency (f ') is greater than the actual frequency (f ) of
light. Thus apparent wavelength (') is lesser the actual wavelength ().

Frequency Wavelength
𝟏 𝟏
𝒗 𝟐 𝒗 𝟐
𝟏+𝒄 𝟏−𝒄
𝒇′ = 𝒇 𝒗 𝝀′ = 𝝀 𝒗
𝟏−𝒄 𝟏+𝒄

If velocity 𝐯 𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐜

Frequency Wavelength
𝒗 ∆𝒇 𝒗 𝒗 ∆𝝀 𝒗
𝒇′ ≈ 𝒇 𝟏 + ⇒ = 𝝀′ = 𝝀 𝟏 − ⇒ =−
𝒄 𝒇 𝒄 𝒄 𝝀 𝒄 Blue Shift
∆𝐟 = 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 ∆𝝀 = 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡
Doppler effect in light in case of Recession
When a light source is moving away from an observer with a relative velocity v
then the apparent frequency (f ') is less than the actual frequency (f ) of light.
Thus apparent wavelength (') is greater than the actual wavelength ().

Frequency Wavelength
𝟏 𝟏
𝒗 𝟐 𝒗 𝟐
𝟏−𝒄 𝟏+𝒄
𝒇′ = 𝒇 𝒗 𝝀′ = 𝝀 𝒗
𝟏+𝒄 𝟏−𝒄

If velocity 𝐯 𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐜

Frequency Wavelength
𝒗 ∆𝒇 −𝒗 𝒗 ∆𝝀 𝒗
𝒇′ ≈ 𝒇 𝟏 − ⇒ = 𝝀′ = 𝝀 𝟏 + ⇒ =
𝒄 𝒇 𝒄 𝒄 𝝀 𝒄 Red Shift
∆𝐟 = 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 ∆𝝀 = 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡
Example
Examples
Example
01 A star is moving towards the earth with a speed of 𝟒. 𝟓 × 𝟏𝟎𝟔 𝒎/𝒔. If the
true wavelength of a certain line in the spectrum received from the star
is 5890 Å, its apparent wavelength will be about (𝒄 = 𝟑 × 𝟏𝟎𝟖 𝒎Τ𝒔 )

(A) 5890 Å (B) 5978 Å (C) 5802 Å (D) 5896 Å

𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

(C)
𝒗 𝟒.𝟓×𝟏𝟎𝟔
By using 𝝀′ = 𝝀 𝟏 −  𝝀′ = 𝟓𝟖𝟗𝟎 𝟏 − = 𝟓𝟖𝟎𝟐Å.
𝒄 𝟑×𝟏𝟎𝟖
Example
02 Light coming from a star is observed to have a wavelength of 3737 Å, while
its real wavelength is 3700 Å. The speed of the star relative to the earth is
(𝒄 = 𝟑 × 𝟏𝟎𝟖 𝒎Τ𝒔 )

𝐀 𝟑 × 𝟏𝟎𝟓 𝒎/𝒔 (B) 𝟑 × 𝟏𝟎𝟔 𝒎/𝒔

(C) 𝟑. 𝟕 × 𝟏𝟎𝟕 𝒎/𝒔 (D)𝟑. 𝟕 × 𝟏𝟎𝟔 𝒎/𝒔

𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
(B)
𝒗 𝒗
By using 𝜟𝝀 = 𝝀 𝒄  (3737-3700)= 𝟑𝟕𝟎𝟎 × 𝟑×𝟏𝟎𝟖  𝒗 = 𝟑 × 𝟏𝟎𝟔 𝒎/𝒔.
Example
03 The velocity of a star is 𝟏𝟎𝟓 m/s and the frequency of emitted light is
𝟒. 𝟓 × 𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟒 Hz. If a star is moving towards the observer, then find the shift
in frequency ?

𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
Example
04 If a star emitting light of wavelength 5000 Å is moving away from earth
with a velocity of 1.5×103 m/s then find the shift in the wavelength due to
Doppler's effect?

𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
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