Doppler shift

The doppler effect is the change in frequency of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving
relative to the source.

Let us consider a situation where the source of sound is moving towards a stationary observer (that
is the observer is not moving relative to the source of the sound).In this particular case (as shown in
the diagram below), the source of the sound is to the left of the observer, and source of the sound is
moving towards the right.

The waves get “bunched up” towards the observer and hence the wavelength of the wave
decreases. This in turn increases the frequency (frequency is inversely proportional top the
wavelength) heard by the observer.

Let’s say that an object emits a sound wave which has a time period of one second per cycle. The
wave is moving at a velocity of 10 m/s and the source is moving at a velocity of 5 m/s. Lets try to see
what happens.

Well…at time equals zero, the first wave crest would have been just emitted. After one period that is
after one second, the first crest would have moved a distance of ten metres (radially outward) from
the source. In that same time, the source itself would have moved a distance of 5 metres to the right
(point B in the diagram).

At time equals two seconds, the wave crest emitted by the source at time equals zero would have
moved another ten metres (radially outward) from point A, and it would be 20 metres away from
point A.

The second wave crest emitted by the source at time equals two would have moved another ten
metres (radially outward) away from point B, and it would be 10 metres away from point B.

The source itself would have moved five metres to the right, and it would be a total of ten metres
away from its original position. It would have just emitted the third crest
At time equals three seconds, the wave crest emitted by the source at time equals zero would have
moved another ten metres (radially outward) from point A, and it would be 30 metres away from
point A.

The second wave crest emitted by the source at time equals two would have moved another ten
metres (radially outward) away from point B, and it would be 20 metres away from point B.

The third wave crest emitted by the source at time equals two would be ten metres away (radially
outward) from point C.

The source itself would have moved five metres to the right, and it would be a total of fifteen metres
away from its original position (Shown by point D). It would have just emitted the fourth crest.

The wave length perceived by the observer is just equal to the distance between any two
consecutive crest on the right-hand side (the source is to the left of the observer). The wave length
can be measured using the first, second, or third diagram.

If the source of sound is moving away from the observer, the wavelength perceived by the obsever is
just the distance between any two consecutive crests on theewlft hand side in the above diagram,
In the above diagram, λ t is the wavelength perceived by the observer when the source of the sound is moving towards from the observer
and λ a is the wavelength perceived by the observer when the source of the sound is moving away from the observer.

Now let us try to derive the formula for the exact frequency heard by the observer in this situation.
In order to do that, let’s define a few variables. Let v w be the velocity of the wave radially outward,
v s be the velocity of the source (of the sound) to the right (towards the observer) and let T s be the
time period of the wave given off by the source.

Let’s say that the source emitted its first crest and time equals zero. How far will the first wave crest
be from the source (Position A in diagram) in T s seconds ?

We can use the formula that distance = rate times time. The rate of the wave is equal to its velocity
which is equal to v w and the time elapsed is equal to T s . Hence the distance travelled by the first
crest in T s seconds is equal to T s v w (T s v w is also the ‘radius’ of the first wave crest).

m
But remember one thing – the source is moving – at a velocity of v s to the right. So, using the
s
distance formula, we can see that after T s the source would have moved T s v s meters to the right
(Since the velocity is measured in meters per second and the time period is measured in seconds,
the seconds cancel out), which is position B in the diagram.
Now to figure out the wavelength perceived by the observer, all we have to do is measure the
distance between the first crest and the second crest. This is ‘perceived’ wavelength is equal to BC.
From the diagram we can see that,

AB+ BC = AC
Solving for BC

AC− AB=BC
AC is just the radius of the wave crest so we can replace it with T s v w . We already know that AB is
equal to T s v s . BC is equal to the perceived wavelength, λ .

T s v w −T s v s=λ

Rearranging the wave equation in order to solve for the time period we know that

λ
=T
v
Plugging in the perceived wavelength and velocity to calculate the time period of the sound wave
experienced by the observer (T o ).

T s v w −T s v s
T o=
vw
Factoring and simplifying the relationship

( v w −v s )
T o=T s
vw

We can make use of the fact that the frequency of a wave is the reciprocal of the time period to
compute the frequency heard by the observer ( f o ) .
 1
f=
T
1 1
=
T o T s ( v w −v s )
vw
vw vw
f o= =f s
T s ( v w −v s ) v w −v s

The frequency observed by the observer when the source of sound is moving towards him is given
by the formula:

vw
fs
v w −v s
If the source of sound is moving away from the observer we can simply add the velocity of the wave
and the velocity of the source in the previous formula to get:

vw
fs
v w+ v s