Date | May 2019 | Marks available | 1 | Reference code | 19M.1.HL.TZ2.21 |
Level | Higher level | Paper | Paper 1 | Time zone | 2 |
Command term | Question number | 21 | Adapted from | N/A |
Question
A train approaches a station and sounds a horn of constant frequency and constant intensity. An observer waiting at the station detects a frequency fobs and an intensity Iobs. What are the changes, if any, in Iobs and fobs as the train slows down?
Markscheme
D
Examiners report
An unusual way of considering the Doppler effect, this had a very low discrimination index with the most popular answer A when D was correct. It is likely the candidates have confused what the train is producing – a constant intensity sound – and what the observer hears, Io, where the intensity is going to increase as the train approaches. This immediately eliminates options A and C.