Doppler Effect: The General Equation

In some situations both the source and the observer move. We can write out a general Doppler equation for the observed frequency by simply combining the previous results.

The general equation accounting for any motion is:
f ' = f (
v +/- uo
v -/+ us
)

For both sets of signs use the first sign when the motion is toward the other thing, and the second sign when the motion is away.