The police car with its 300-Hz siren is moving away from the warehouse at a speed of 16.0 m/s . . . What frequency does the driver of the police car hear reflected from the warehouse?. . Use 344m/s for the speed of sound in air.
frequency heard by listener: fl = ?
frequency of source: fs = 300 Hz
velocity of listener: vl = 16 m/s
velocity of source: vs = 0
velocity of sound in air: c = 344 m/s
fl = fs [(c – vl)/c] = 300[(344-16)/344]
=286.04 Hz
= 286.05 Hz
We can use or employ the Doppler equation:
fl = fs[(c±vl)/(c-/+vs)
where,
The source will be the origin of the reflected signal (i.e.the
warehouse). So that, velocity of source: vs = 0
The listener is the policeman moving away from the source
with velocity: vl = 16 m/s
Therefore, the Doppler equation. becomes:
fl = fs [(c – vl)/c]
= 300[(344-16)/344]
= 286.04 Hz
where, fl is the frequency of the reflected sound heard by
the police officer.