This Wednesday, the mathematician Christian Doppler would have celebrated his 214th birthday. After him, the famous Doppler effect is named. But what is actually behind this term and where do we find the Doppler effect in everyday life?
On November 29, 1803, Christian Andreas Doppler was born in Salzburg, Austria. Today the mathematician and physicist, who became known through the Doppler effect named after him, would have become 214 years old. That's why Google reminds him today on his homepage. But what exactly is the Doppler effect that we've all heard of before, actually?
The website of the Christian Doppler Fund states that the Doppler effect is an "effect that moved the world". And further: "Even in his wildest dreams, the visionary Christian Doppler could scarcely have imagined what significance his discovery would have for all of humanity." Which waves would strike his writing 'About the colored light of the double stars' (1842). No effect has changed our view of the world as decisively as the Doppler principle. "
How do we know the Doppler effect from everyday life?
The homepage explains that the Doppler effect describes "the change of the frequency of a wave". To illustrate, the Doppler effect is illustrated by an ambulance passing an observer. "The movement of the car upsets the sound waves in front of the car and stretches them behind the car, and then the observer perceives this effect through the different pitch of the siren: before the ambulance reaches it, the sound is higher as soon as the car is off removed from him, the sound is deeper. "
In a small animation story , the Doppler effect is also explained. It states, among other things, that Christian Doppler has also researched the basics on which today's speed cameras, so speed traps, build.
Doppler himself was no longer allowed to witness what a groundbreaking discovery he made. He died on 17 March 1853 at the age of 49 years in Venice. At that time the Austrian suffered from a lung disease and therefore moved to the Italian city in 1852 due to the mild climate . There he finally succumbed to the consequences of a pneumoconiosis disease.