Answer to Question #164337 in Optics for Jay

Question

Describe a simple laboratory demonstrating the Doppler effect of sound waves.

Answer 1

Answer

when an emergency vehicle with its siren on drives past a car containing an observer. As 

the ambulance approaches, the observed frequency is increased relative to the emitted 

frequency. When the ambulance is passing by the vehicle of the observer, the observed 

frequency will be equal to the emitted frequency, and the observed frequency is 

decreased when the ambulance is moving away from the observing vehicle. 

This Doppler experiment is concerned with sound waves which are longitudinal 

waves. A longitudinal wave is a wave in which the particles of the medium move parallel 

to the direction of the wave velocity In contrast, a transverse 

wave is a wave in which the particles of the medium move perpendicular to the wave 

velocity Longitudinal waves travel through a medium at a 

speed that depends on the compressibility and inertia of that medium thus, the total Doppler effect may be a combination of motion of the 

source, motion of the observer, or motion of the medium. For waves which do not require.

$f=f_0(\frac{v+v_r}{v+v_s})$