You tie a battery powered, fixed-frequency buzzer to the end of a string and swing it around in a large horizontal circle. Your friend stands well off to the right and listens to the tone. At which of the labeled locations will the buzzer be when your friend hears the highest frequency?
A
D B
To determine at which labeled location the buzzer will produce the highest frequency, we need to consider the Doppler effect. The Doppler effect is the change in frequency or wavelength of a wave for an observer moving relative to its source.
In this scenario, the buzzer is moving in a large horizontal circle, while your friend is standing off to the right. As the buzzer approaches your friend, the sound waves it produces get compressed, resulting in a higher frequency. As the buzzer moves away from your friend, the sound waves get stretched, resulting in a lower frequency.
Based on this understanding, we can conclude that the highest frequency will be heard when the buzzer is closest to your friend. Therefore, the buzzer will be at location B when your friend hears the highest frequency.