Correcting the Doppler Effect

Abstract

Christian Doppler, an Austrian physicist, described in 1842 the apparent change in frequency of a wave when motion of the source or the observer is involved. Named after him, this change in observational frequencies is known as the Doppler Effect. The formula for calculating the frequency change is taught in universities, textbooks, Youtube, and on the internet. Understanding the Doppler effect is used in applications such as radar. Yet, the formula is wrong, yielding a different result when applying the same velocity, once to the source, then to the observer. This article will show the formula, the error, the correction to the formula, and how it disproves Einstein’s theories of special and general relativity.