ERIC Number: EJ892011
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007-May
Pages: 4
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0031-921X
EISSN: N/A
Graphical Representation of the Doppler Shift: Classical and Relativistic
Rojas, R.; Fuster, G.
Physics Teacher, v45 n5 p306-309 May 2007
The Doppler shift is a frequency change of a repetitive effect, as measured by a receiver, due to the motion of the wave emitter, to the motion of the wave receiver, or both. A demonstration of the effect is provided by the sound of a car's horn that changes from a higher pitch to a lower pitch when a car drives past. Most derivations of the Doppler formula assume sinusoidal waves. We want to call the attention of readers to a derivation that uses a graphical representation based on a graph of position versus time. We will adopt a particle model of machine gun bullets fired at a constant period, thus getting a derivation that just requires the knowledge of kinematics. Furthermore, we will explain how to introduce the time dilation in order to get the formula for the relativistic Doppler shift.
Descriptors: Motion, Science Instruction, Physics, Acoustics, Graphs, Weapons, Scientific Principles, Models
American Association of Physics Teachers. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740. Tel: 301-209-3300; Fax: 301-209-0845; e-mail: pubs@aapt.org; Web site: http://scitation.aip.org/tpt
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A