You are walking along a small country road one foggy morning and come to an inte

Question

You are walking along a small country road one foggy morning and come to an intersection. While you are crossing, you hear an ambulance siren. As a paramedic, you know that the siren sounds at a frequency of 8.27 kHz. But, as an amateur musician with perfect pitch, you can tell that the frequency you are hearing is actually 8.95 kHz. Is the ambulance moving toward or away from you? Any help is greatly appreciated but please show process if at all posssible. I've tried this problem a dozen times and can't figure out what I'm doing wrong.

Explanation / Answer

Frequency = (Actual frequency)*(Velocity of sound)/ (Velocity of sound - Velocity of source)

8.95 = 8.27 * (768)/(768-Velocity of source)

(768-Velocity of source) = 8.27 * (768)/8.95 = 709.65 mph

Velocity of source = 768 - 709.65 mph = 58.35 mph [ANS}

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