WO.1 · Acoustic Doppler echoes and standing-wave boundaries

For sound in a stationary medium, separate source motion from observer motion. A source approaching at speed u_s compresses wavefront spacing and produces received frequency f c/(c−u_s) at a stationary observer. An observer approaching a stationary source at speed u_o meets more wavefronts per second and measures f(c+u_o)/c. Speeds are measured relative to the medium; the acoustic source and observer formulas are not symmetric under exchanging roles. Receding motion reverses the appropriate sign. These expressions assume subsonic motion along the propagation line.

For a siren moving toward a stationary reflecting wall with speed u, the wall first receives f_wall=f c/(c−u). Reflection from a stationary wall preserves frequency in the medium frame. The moving driver then approaches the returning wavefronts and receives f_echo=f_wall(c+u)/c=f(c+u)/(c−u). At small u/c the fractional shift is approximately 2u/c, but the exact expression has different numerator and denominator. A moving reflecting surface needs its own Doppler step; do not reuse the stationary-wall result blindly.

At an ideal open pipe end, air displacement is an antinode and pressure variation is a node. At a rigid closed end, displacement is a node and pressure is an antinode. For both ends open, length L contains n half-wavelengths, giving f_n=nc/(2L), n=1,2,… . For one end closed, it contains an odd number of quarter-wavelengths, giving f_n=(2n−1)c/(4L). Real pipes may need end corrections; the ideal GRE model uses the stated length without inventing an adjustment.

Closing one end of a previously both-open pipe halves its fundamental and leaves only odd multiples of that new fundamental. Its old frequencies were integer multiples of c/(2L), which are even multiples of c/(4L), so none is an allowed frequency of the new ideal one-closed spectrum. This differs from simply deleting even harmonics while retaining the old fundamental. When the medium is unchanged, wave speed is unchanged; frequency and wavelength change together to satisfy the new boundary geometry.