PHYSICS PROJECT

TOPIC:

DOPPLER’S EFFECT

PRIYA MANANI XI (SCIENCE) ROLL.NO-10

 INDEX
1. Acknowledgement
2. Superposition of waves
3. Dopplers effect
4. Dopplers shift
5. Dopplers effect examples
6. Formula derivations
7. Applications
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my special thanks of
gratitude to my teacher Garima ma’am as well
as our principal who gave me the golden
opportunity to do this wonderful project on the
topic DOPPLER’S EFECTS which also helped
me in doing a lot of Research and I came to
know about so many new things I am really
thankful to them. The project helped me explore
the topic in depth and learn more about
I would like to acknowledge that this project
was completed entirely by me and not by
someone else.
 SUPERPOSITION OF WAVES
There are two types of waves - longitudinal and
transverse. Superposition applies to all kinds of waves.
Sound waves are mechanical longitudinal waves, while
light waves are non-mechanical transverse waves.
Longitudinal waves are the vibrations parallel to the
direction of propagation of the wave, while transverse
waves are the sinusoidal vibrations in space and time.
Considering the sound waves, there are compressions
and rarefactions which tell about the particle
disturbances caused in the
medium. According to the
principle of superposition,
when two or more sound waves
meet at a point, the
displacement at that point is
equal to the sum of the
displacements of the individual
sound waves. In this case,
Sound superposition - (a) Constructive Interference
(b) Destructive Interference

when these waves pass through the same region

simultaneously, interference of waves takes place. In the
superposition of waves, each wave makes its
contribution to the disturbance. Depending on the
displacements or disturbances they produce, two types of
interference occur - constructive interference and
destructive interference.
For sound waves, when the compression of one wave
coincides with the compression of another wave,
constructive interference results. And when the
compression of one wave coincides with the rarefaction
of another wave, destructive interference results. This is
known as sound superposition.
Similarly, for light or
electromagnetic waves, when the
peak of one wave coincides with the
peak of another interfering wave,
Light superposition - (a) Constructive Interference
constructive interference results. (b) Destructive Interference

And when the peak of one wave coincides with the

trough of other interfering waves, destructive
interference results.
Dopplers effect is observed in such waves
 DOPPLER’S EFFECT
DEFINITION : The Doppler
effect or Doppler shift (or
simply Doppler, when in context) is
the change in frequency of a wave in
relation to an observer who is moving
relative to the wave source. It is named after
the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler, who described the
phenomenon in 1842.
REASON : The reason
for the Doppler effect is that
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 crest of the previous wave. Therefore, each
wave takes slightly less time to reach the observer than the
previous wave. Hence, the time between the arrivals of
successive wave crests at the observer is reduced, causing an
increase in the frequency. While they are traveling, the
distance between successive wave fronts is reduced, so the
waves "bunch together". 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, so
the arrival time between successive waves is increased,
reducing the frequency. The distance between successive wave
fronts is then increased, so the waves "spread out".

DOPPLER SHIFT
The Doppler effect is an alteration in the observed frequency
of a sound due to motion of either the source or the observer.
Although less familiar, this effect is easily noticed for a
stationary source and moving observer.
For example, if you ride a train past a stationary warning
horn, you will hear the horn’s frequency shift from high to
low as you pass by. The actual change in frequency due to
relative motion of source and observer is called a Doppler
shift. 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. 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. Their music
was observed both
on and off the train,
and changes in
frequency were
measured.
What causes the Doppler shift?
Figure 1. illustrates sound waves emitted by stationary and
moving sources in a stationary air mass. Each disturbance
spreads out spherically from the point at which the sound is
emitted. If the source is stationary, then all of the spheres
representing the air compressions in the sound wave are
centred on the same point, and the stationary observers on
either side hear the same wavelength and frequency as
emitted by the source (case a).
If the source is moving, the situation is different. Each
compression of the air moves out in a sphere from the point
at which it was emitted, but the point of emission moves.
This moving emission point causes the air compressions to be
closer together on one side and farther apart on the other.
Thus, the wavelength is shorter in the direction the source is
moving (on the right in case b), and longer in the opposite
direction (on the left in case b). Finally, if the observers
move, as in case (c), the frequency at which they receive the
compressions changes. 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.

fig 1
We know that wavelength and frequency are related by
v=fλ, where v is the fixed speed of sound. The sound moves
in a medium and has the same speed v in that medium
whether the source is moving or not. Thus, f multiplied
by λ is a constant. Because the observer on the right in case
(b) receives a shorter wavelength, the frequency she receives
must be higher. Similarly, the observer on the left receives a
longer wavelength, and hence he hears a lower frequency.
The same thing happens in case (c). A higher frequency is
received by the observer moving toward the source, and a
lower frequency is received by an observer moving away
from the source. In general, then, relative motion of source
and observer toward one another increases the received
frequency. Relative motion apart decreases frequency. The
greater the relative speed, the greater the effect.
The Doppler effect occurs not only for sound, but for
any wave when there is relative motion between the observer
and the source. Doppler shifts occur in the frequency
of sound, light, and water waves, for example. Doppler shifts
can be used to determine velocity, such as when ultrasound is
reflected from blood in a medical diagnostic. The relative
velocities of stars and galaxies is determined by the shift in
the frequencies of light received from them and has implied
much about the origins of the universe. Modern physics has
been profoundly affected by observations of Doppler shifts.
DOPPLER EFFECT EXAMPLES
Let us imagine the following scenario:
Case 1: Two people A and B, are standing on the road, as
shown below in the picture.

Person A hears the sound of the revving engine with a greater

magnitude than person B. Person B, standing behind the car,
receives fewer waves per second (because they’re spread
out), resulting in a low-pitched sound. But, person A who is
in front of the car, receives more of those soundwave ripples
per second. As a result, the frequency of the waves is higher,
which means the sound has a higher pitch.

Case 2: Now let us consider the following situations:

Situation 1: How is the pattern of waves formed when you
suddenly jump into a pond?
Situation 2: How is the pattern of waves formed when you
are walking in a pond?
The image given below highlights the difference between
wave patterns in both situations.
The difference in the wave pattern is due to the source’s
movement in the second case. This is what the Doppler effect
is. In the Doppler effect, the frequency received by the
observer is higher during the approach, identical when the
relative positions are the same, and keeps lowering on the
recession of the source.
 DOPPLER EFFECT FORMULA
DERIVATIONS
1) Sound Waves from a Source at Rest
To set up notation, a source at rest emitting a steady note
generates circular wave crests:

The circles are separated by one wavelength λ and they travel

outwards at the speed of sound v. If the source has
frequency f0, the time interval τ0 between wave crests leaving
the source
1
𝜏0 =
𝑓0
As a fresh wave crest is emitted, the previous crest has
travelled a distance λ, so, since it’s moving at speed v,
vτ0=λ, and therefore λf0=v.

2) Sound Waves from a Moving Source

The Doppler effect arises because once a moving source emits
a circular wave (and provided the source is moving at less
than the speed of the wave) the circular wave crest emitted
continues its outward expansion centred on where the source
was when the crest was emitted, independent of any
subsequent motion of the source.
Therefore, if the source is moving at a steady
speed, the centres of the emitted circles of waves will be
equally spaced along its path, indicating its recent history. In
particular, if the source is moving steadily to the left, the wave
crests will form a pattern:

It is evident that, as a result of the motion

of the source, waves emitted in the
forward direction (to the left in the
diagram) have a shorter wavelength than
they would have if the same source were at
rest. And it’s easy to understand why.
Denoting the steady source velocity by us, in the
time τ0=1/f0 between crests being emitted the source
will have moved to the left a distance 𝑢𝑠 𝜏0. At the same time,
the previously emitted crest will itself have moved to the left a
distance λ. Therefore, the actual distance between crests
emitted to the left will be
λ′=λ−𝑢𝑠 𝜏0.
These waves, having left the source, are of course moving at
the speed of sound v relative to the air—the motion of the
source does not affect the speed of sound in air. Therefore, as
these waves of wavelength λ′ arrive at an observer placed to
the left, so the source is moving directly towards him, he will
hear a frequency f′=v/λ′.
3) Frequency Detected by Stationary
Observer of Moving Source
From the above argument, the observed frequency for a
source moving towards the observer at speed us is:
′
𝑣 𝑣
𝑓 = ′=
𝜆 𝜆 − 𝑢𝑠 𝜏0
𝑣 1 1
= (
𝜆 1−𝑢
) = 𝑓0 (1−𝑢 )
𝑠 𝜏0 ∕𝜆 𝑠 ∕𝑣

(Note that for the common case (us/v)≪1,, we can

approximate, f′≅f0(1+us/v).)
By an exactly parallel argument, for a source
moving away from an observer at speed us, the frequency
is lower by the corresponding factor:
1
1
𝑓 = 𝑓0 ( )
1 + 𝑢𝑠 ∕ 𝑣

4) Stationary Source, Moving Observer

Consider now an observer moving at speed uobs directly
towards a stationary frequency f0 source. So, she’s moving to
meet the oncoming wave crests. Remember, the wave crests
are λ apart in the air, and moving at v. Suppose her time
between meeting successive crests is τ′. During this time, she
moves uobsτ′, the wave crest moves vτ′ coming to meet her,
and between them they cover the distance λ between crests.
It is evident from the diagram that the time interval she will
measure between meeting successive crests is
𝜆
τ′=
𝑢𝑜𝑏𝑠+𝑣

and therefore, the sound frequency she measures is

1 𝑢𝑜𝑏𝑠 +𝑣
f′= =
τ′ 𝜆
𝑣 𝑢𝑜𝑏𝑠 𝑢𝑜𝑏𝑠
= (1 + ) = 𝑓0 (1 + )
𝜆 𝑣 𝑣

5) Source and Observer Both Moving

Towards Each Other
For this case, the arguments above can be combined to give:
1+𝑢𝑜𝑏𝑠 /𝑣1
f′=f0( ).
1−𝑢𝑠/𝑣

Both motions increase the observed frequency. If either

observer or source is moving in the opposite direction, the
observed frequency is found by switching the sign of the
corresponding u.

Doppler Effect for Light

The argument above for the Doppler frequency shift is
accurate for sound waves and water waves, but fails for light
and other electromagnetic waves, since their speed is not
relative to an underlying medium, but to the observer. To
derive the Doppler shift in this case requires special
relativity. A derivation can be found in my Modern
Physics notes.
The Doppler shift for light depends on
the relative velocity u of source and observer :

′
1+𝑢 ∕𝑐
𝑓 = 𝑓0 √
1−𝑢 ∕𝑐

for motion towards each other.

The General Theory of Relativity asserts that the redshift and

blueshift are entirely due to the Doppler's Effect, which is
caused by the motion of light source: if the source is moving
away from the observer the frequency received is lower
[redshift], but if the source is moving towards the observer
the frequency received is higher [blueshift].
 APPLICATIONS
1) ACOUSTIC DOPPLER CURRENT PROFILER
An acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) is
a hydroacoustic current meter similar to a sonar, used to
measure water current velocities over a depth range using the
Doppler effect of sound waves scattered back from particles
within the water column. The term ADCP is a generic term
for all acoustic current profilers, although the abbreviation
originates from an instrument series introduced by RD
Instruments in the 1980s. The working frequencies range of
ADCPs range from 38 kHz to several Megahertz. The device
used in the air for wind speed profiling using sound is known
as SODAR and works with the same underlying principles.

2) ROBOTICS
Dynamic real-time path planning in robotics to aid the
movement of robots in a sophisticated environment with
moving obstacles often take help of Doppler effect.[10] Such
applications are specially used for competitive robotics where
the environment is constantly changing, such as robosoccer.
 3) SIRENS
A siren on a passing emergency vehicle will start out higher
than its stationary pitch, slide down as it passes, and continue
lower than its stationary pitch as it recedes from the observer.
Astronomer John Dobson explained the effect thus:
The reason the siren slides is because it doesn't hit you. In
other words, if the siren approached the observer directly, the
pitch would remain constant, at a higher than stationary pitch,
until the vehicle hit him, and then immediately jump to a new
lower pitch. Because the vehicle passes by the observer, the
radial velocity does not remain constant, but instead varies as
a function of the angle between his line of sight and the
siren's velocity:
𝑣𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑙 = 𝑣𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑠 (𝜃 )
where  is the angle between the object's forward velocity
and the line of sight from the object to the observer.
APPROACHING PASSES BY

Observer hear the

Observer hears siren
frequency of siren
with greater frequency
become lower

4) ASTRONOMY
The Doppler effect for electromagnetic waves such as light is
of widespread use in astronomy to measure the speed at
which stars and galaxies are approaching or receding from
us, resulting in so called blueshift or redshift, respectively.
This may be used to detect if an apparently single star is, in
reality, a close binary, to measure the
rotational speed of stars and galaxies,
or to detect exoplanets. This effect
typically happens on a very small
scale; there would not be a noticeable
difference in visible light to the
unaided eye.[11] The use of the Doppler effect in astronomy
depends on knowledge of precise frequencies of discrete
lines in the spectra of stars.
Redshift is also used to measure
the expansion of space, but this is not truly
a Doppler effect. Rather, redshifting due to
the expansion of space is known
as cosmological redshift, which can be
derived purely from the Robertson-Walker
metric under the formalism of general
relativity. Having said this, it also happens
that there are detectable Doppler effects on
cosmological scales, which, if incorrectly
interpreted as cosmological in origin, lead to Redshift of
spectral lines
the observation of redshift-space distortions
5) RADAR
The Doppler effect is used in some types of radar, to measure
the velocity of detected objects. A radar beam is fired at a
moving target — e.g. a motor car, as police use radar to
detect speeding motorists — as it approaches or recedes from
the radar source. Each successive radar wave has to travel
farther to reach the car, before being reflected and re-detected
near the source. As each wave has to move farther, the gap
between each wave increases, increasing the wavelength. In
some situations, the radar beam is fired at the moving car as
it approaches, in which case each successive wave travels a
lesser distance, decreasing the wavelength. In either situation,
calculations from the Doppler effect accurately determine the
car's velocity. Moreover, the proximity fuze, developed
during World War II, relies upon Doppler radar to detonate
explosives at the correct time, height, distance, etc.
Because the doppler shift affects the wave incident upon the
target as well as the wave reflected back to the radar, the
change in frequency observed by a radar due to a target
moving at relative velocity 𝛥𝑣 is twice that from the same
2𝛥𝑣
target emitting a wave: 𝛥𝑓 = 𝑓
𝑐 𝑜

6) MEDICAL
An echocardiogram can, within certain limits, produce an
accurate assessment of the direction of blood flow and the
velocity of blood and cardiac tissue at any arbitrary point
using the Doppler effect. Velocity measurements allow
assessment of cardiac valve areas and function, abnormal
communications between the left and right side of the heart,
leaking of blood through the valves (valvular regurgitation),
and calculation of the cardiac output. Contrast-enhanced
ultrasound using gas-filled microbubble contrast media can
be used to improve velocity or other flow-related medical
measurements.
Although "Doppler" has
become synonymous with
"velocity measurement" in
medical imaging, in many
cases it is not the
frequency shift (Doppler
shift) of the received signal
that is measured, but the
phase shift.
Velocity measurements of blood flow are also used in other
fields of medical ultrasonography, such as obstetric
ultrasonography and neurology. Velocity measurement of
blood flow in arteries and veins based on Doppler effect is an
effective tool for diagnosis of vascular problems
like stenosis.
7) AUDIO
The Leslie speaker, most commonly
associated with and predominantly
used with the famous Hammond
organ, takes advantage of the Doppler effect by using an
electric motor to rotate an acoustic horn around a
loudspeaker, sending its sound in a circle. This results at the
listener's ear in rapidly fluctuating frequencies of a keyboard
note.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
1) https://study.com
2) https://phys.libretexts.org
3) https://byjus.com
4) https://galileo.phys.virginia.edu
5) https://en.wikipedia.org