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A bumper sticker says, if you drive fast enough at a red light it will appear gr

ID: 1660498 • Letter: A

Question

A bumper sticker says, if you drive fast enough at a red light it will appear green. Determine how fast you would have to travel for a red light (442*10^12 Hz) to look green (566*10^12 Hz). Give your answer in m/s, miles per hour, and as a percentage of the speed of light. Using algebra. A bumper sticker says, if you drive fast enough at a red light it will appear green. Determine how fast you would have to travel for a red light (442*10^12 Hz) to look green (566*10^12 Hz). Give your answer in m/s, miles per hour, and as a percentage of the speed of light. Using algebra.

Explanation / Answer

We need to use the formula of Doppler shift for stationary source, moving observer.

f' = [(v + v0)/v]*f

where,

  vo = Velocity of the Observer,

           v = Velocity of light in medium,

           f = Real frequency,

           f' = Apparent frequency.

Rearranging in terms of v0 :

vo = vf'/f - v

= [(3*108)(566*1012)/(442*1012)] - (3*108)

= 8.4 x 107 m/s (ans)

In mph:

speed = 8.4 x 107 x 2.24

= 1.88 x 108 mph (ans)

As a percentage:

c = 3 x 108 m/s

Thus,

vo/c =(8.4 x 107)/(3x108)

vo/c = 0.28

vo = 0.28c (ans)