Lesson Plan

Lesson: Doppler Effect

Aim: To study and understand Doppler effect.

Lesson Objectives

In this lesson, students:

• describe quantitatively the Doppler Effect of sound

• derive the expression for the frequency of sound when the source is moving
towards and away from the stationary listener
• derive the expression for the frequency of sound when the listener is moving towards
and away from the stationary source
• understand that the movement of the source will affect the wavelength of the sound
• use the derived formulae to calculate the frequency.

Assumed prior knowledge

Students should already be familiar with

• progressive waves.
• wave equation v = fλ.
• beats.
• principle of superposition of waves.
• relative motion.

Activity Descriptions

Activity 1
Sound moving
Students learn
• the effect of moving sound source on the wavelength and frequency.
• the effect of approaching sound source on the frequency.
• the effect of sound source moving away from the listener.
• the derivation of the expression for the apparent frequency due to the motion of the source.
Activity 2
Observer moving
Students learn
• the effect of the motion of the listener relative to a stationary source of sound.
• the derivation of the expression for the frequency of sound heard by the listener moving
towards a stationary source of sound.
• the derivation of the expression for the frequency of sound heard by the listener moving away
from a stationary source of sound.
• the effect on the frequency heard when the source and the listener are moving relative to each
other.
Development of Lesson

No. Step Strategy Resources

1 Introduction Teacher begins lesson by showing Teaching software
the animation on Doppler Effect in
the introduction.
2 Students Activity Teacher projects activities of lesson • LCD projector.
on the screen • Teacher’s
• Teacher projects the Laptop
introduction of the lesson. computer.
• Teacher goes through the • Multimedia
activities one by one. courseware.
• Teacher together with the
students summarizes the
lesson using the summary.
3 Worksheet • Teacher distributes the • Printed copies
worksheets to the students. of worksheet.
• Students are supposed to
complete the worksheet.
• Completed worksheets to be
collected by the teacher for
marking.
4 Extension activity Students are asked to look for • Suggested
further information by: websites.
• Surfing the internet using • Recommended
the search engines like text
Yahoo or Alta Vista or references.
Google.
• Students look up
recommended text.
Worksheet Solutions

Question 1

(a) When there is a relative motion between the sound source and the listener, the frequency of the
sound heard is different from the actual frequency. This phenomenon is known as Doppler Effect.

(b)
(i) Yes. There is no relative motion between the driver and the source.
(ii) No. There is relative motion between them.
(iii) Yes. There is no relative motion.
(iv) No. There is relative motion

Question 2

(i)
v
λ=
f
350
=
600

= 0.583 m

(ii)
v − vs
λ=
f
350 − 35
=
600

= 0.525 m

(iii)
v
f =
λ
350
=
0.525

= 667 Hz
Question 3

(i) The speed of the whistle vs = r ω

= 0.5 x 40
= 20 m s-1

The apparent frequency is maximum when the whistle is moving towards the boy.

v
f '= f
v − vs
340
= × 500
340 − 20

= 531 Hz

(ii) The apparent frequency is minimum when the whistle is moving away from the boy.

v
f '= f
v + vs
340
= × 500
340 + 20

= 472 Hz
Question 4

(a) The wavelength of the sound heard by the motorist is constant and equals to the actual
wavelength because the source of sound is not moving...

The apparent frequency is increasing because the speed of sound relative to the observer is
increasing.

v + vo
(b) f '= f
v
340 + vo
450 = × 400
340

vo = 42.5 m s-1

Question 5
v+u
f '= f
v −u
340 + u
850 = × 800
340 − u
u = 10.3 m s-1

Question 6

The boy can hear the sound directly from the whistle and the sound reflected from the wall. The
frequency of sound heard directly from the whistle is 500 Hz.

The apparent frequency of sound reflected from the wall is

v+u
f '= f
v −u

340 + u
= × 500
340 − u
F = f '− f
340 + u
5= x500 − 500
340 − u
u = 1.69 m s-1
Question 7

For the car moving towards the bystander,

v
f1 = f
v−u
340
= × 500
340 − 20
= 531 Hz

For car moving away from the bystander,

v
f2 = f
v+u
340
= × 500
340 + 20

= 472 Hz

Beat frequency F = f1 - f2

= (531 – 472) Hz

= 59 Hz.