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The echo

In a radar speed trap the pulse emitted from the gun reflects from a moving car and when a bat locates an insect by a pulse of ultrasound the reflected pulse will be Doppler shifted twice because of the relative motion of the source and reflector.

Take the case of the car and the radar speed trap. (Figure 1).The emitted frequency of the police radar gun is f, the car acts like a moving observer receiving it at f'. It reflects it back at f', acting now as a moving source and the police receive it back shifted once again as f''.
The total change in frequency (f'' - f) is twice what it was in the simple case above.



Doppler frequency shift due to an echo (2Δf) = 2fv/c
Doppler wavelength shift due to an echo (2Δλ) = 2λv/c


Example problems
1. Find the speed of an approaching car if the radar echo from the car is shifted by 167 Hz. The transmitted signal has a frequency of 10 GHz (109 Hz)(Speed or radar waves = 3x108 ms-1)

Using :- v = cΔf/2f = 3x108x167/2x109 = 25 ms-1

2. Find the Doppler shift measured by a radar sped trap if the car is approaching the detector at 100 mph (45.5 ms-1)

Doppler shift (Δf) = 2fv/c = 2x109x45.5/3x108 = 303 Hz
 

A VERSION IN WORD IS AVAILABLE ON THE SCHOOLPHYSICS USB
 
 
 
 
© Keith Gibbs