A person observes two moving trains. First reaching the station and another leaves the station with equal…

A person observes two moving trains. First reaching the station and another leaves the station with equal speed of $30 \mathrm{~m} / \mathrm{s}$. If both trains emit sounds of frequency 300 Hz , difference of frequencies heard by the person will be (speed of sound in air $=330 \mathrm{~m} / \mathrm{s}$ )
  1. 80 Hz
  2. 75 Hz
  3. 55 Hz
  4. 45 Hz

Solution

The Doppler effect governs the frequency shift for a moving source relative to a stationary observer. For a source approaching the observer, the observed frequency is $f_1 = f_0 \frac{v}{v - v_s}$, while for a receding source, it is $f_2 = f_0 \frac{v}{v + v_s}$, where $f_0 = 300 \, \text{Hz}$, $v = 330 \, \text{m/s}$, and $v_s = 30 \, \text{m/s}$.

For the approaching train: $f_1 = 300 \times \frac{330}{330 - 30} = 300 \times \frac{330}{300} = 330 \, \text{Hz}$.

For the receding train: $f_2 = 300 \times \frac{330}{330 + 30} = 300 \times \frac{330}{360} = 275 \, \text{Hz}$.

The difference in frequencies is $|f_1 - f_2| = |330 - 275| = 55 \, \text{Hz}$.

Final answer: $\boxed{55}$

Asked in: MHT CET 2025 (05 May Shift 2)

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