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wdlang
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is the light doppler effect a purely relativistic effect?
or it is present even in the classical limit?
or it is present even in the classical limit?
The light Doppler effect is basically just like the classical one but with the added complication that the source's clock is running slow in the frame of the receiver, so the frequency at which the source is emitting pulses/peaks in its own frame is different from the frequency at which the source is emitting pulses/peaks in the receiver's frame. See my post #15 here (along with #18 on the same thread) for a derivation of the fact that relativistic Doppler is just classical Doppler multiplied by the time dilation factor.wdlang said:is the light doppler effect a purely relativistic effect?
or it is present even in the classical limit?
The doppler effect refers to the perceived change in frequency of a wave when there is relative motion between the source of the wave and the observer. This results in a shift in the wavelength of the wave, which can be observed in both sound waves and light waves.
Yes, the doppler effect for sound waves and light waves is caused by different physical phenomena. Sound waves are longitudinal waves that require a medium to travel through, while light waves are transverse electromagnetic waves that can travel through a vacuum. This difference in their nature leads to different roots for the doppler effect.
The main difference between the doppler effect for sound waves and light waves is in the speed of the waves. Sound waves travel at a much slower speed compared to light waves, resulting in a larger shift in frequency for sound waves compared to light waves. Additionally, the doppler effect for light waves is also affected by the relative motion of the source and observer in space, while the doppler effect for sound waves is mainly influenced by the relative motion of the source and observer in a medium.
Yes, the doppler effect can be observed in everyday life. For example, the sound of an ambulance siren will appear higher in pitch as it approaches you, and lower in pitch as it moves away. This is due to the doppler effect for sound waves. Similarly, the color of a star can appear shifted towards the blue or red end of the spectrum depending on its direction of motion relative to the observer, which is caused by the doppler effect for light waves.
The doppler effect for sound waves is used in various applications, such as in medical imaging (ultrasound), weather forecasting (radar), and astronomy (studying the motion of celestial bodies). The doppler effect for light waves is also used in astronomy to determine the velocity and distance of objects in space, and in technology such as Doppler radar for weather forecasting and police speed guns to measure the speed of moving vehicles.