Describe the Doppler Effect in details with illustrations.
2007-10-18 04:24:59 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
just imagine i'm throwing balls at you from across the court. the frequency at which you recieve the balls is the same as the frequency i send them to you when neither of us is moving. suppose you (or I) start running towards each other. than you'd be getting smacked by balls faster. the frequency of smackage would go up b/c we would be getting closer together. if we were getting further apart, the frequency you see relative to the frequency i send you the balls would be lower.
since sound travels like tennis balls in that air is made of of tiny balls which can be "thrown" by using speakers (it's really pressure) it's analagous in w/ sound. It's actually analogous w/ light too, but you or the object has to be travelling quickly in order to have an effect on the frequency. sorry, no illustrations, just a good analogy.
2007-10-18 04:33:37 · answer #1 · answered by keyahnoo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Doppler effect is the change in pitch a noise-making object makes as it nears you and then passes you. Doppler used a train whistle as an example. The pitch of the whistle changes as it nears you, and changes as it passes you and gets farther away. This is because sound waves move slowly. So slowly that when a train is traveling at 60 mph and approaching you, the sound waves are moving at the speed of sound plus 60 mph. Then after the passage of the train, the sound waves are moving at the speed of sound minus 60 mph. This distorts the pitch of the whistle. This was part of Doppler's proof that sound travels in waves.
Funny thing about light, though. The train's headlight beam is traveling at the speed of light irregardless of the speed of the train! Even if the train is going in reverse, the light beam is still traveling at the speed of light. Not the speed of light minus 60 mph, the speed of light always! Go figure.
2007-10-18 15:44:45 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is a car "*" This is the sound wave ")"
The car is coming towards you *))))))))you(((((((( <---These sound waves are when the car passes you and the sound of it changes its frequency.
2007-10-18 06:26:57 · answer #3 · answered by Joe C. 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppler_effect
2007-10-18 04:59:59 · answer #4 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋