Shortcut Methods
Numerical on Doppler Effect
Shortcut Method: For a moving observer, the apparent frequency is given by:
where:
- v is the speed of sound in air
- v0 is the speed of the observer
- vs is the speed of the source (e.g. police car)
- f is the actual frequency of the source (e.g. siren)
In this numerical:
- v = 344 m/s (speed of sound in air)
- v0 = 0 m/s (stationary observer)
- vs = 30 m/s (police car moving towards the observer)
- f = 500 Hz (siren frequency)
Substituting these values, we get:
So the apparent frequency heard by the person is 544.62 Hz.
Numerical on Polarization of Light
Shortcut Method:
The intensity of the light transmitted by a polarizer is given by:
where:
- I is the intensity of the transmitted light
- I0 is the intensity of the incident light
- θ is the angle between the polarization of the incident light and the optical axis of the polarizer
In this numerical:
- I = 0.5I0 (intensity of the transmitted light)
- I0 is the intensity of the incident light
- θ = 30 degrees (angle of incidence)
Substituting these values, we get:
So the angle of polarization of the incident light is 45 degrees to the optical axis of the polarizer.
Numerical on Electromagnetic Spectrum
Shortcut Method:
The frequency of a wave given by:
where:
- f is the frequency of the wave
- v is the speed of the wave
- λ is the wavelength of the wave
In this numerical:
- v = 3 * 10^8 meters per second (speed of light)
- λ = 300 meters (wavelength of the radio wave)
Substituting these values, we get:
So the frequency of the radio wave is 1 MHz (1 * 10^6 Hz).