For more than two weeks the disappearance of flight MH370 has flummoxed experts and civilians alike. On Monday, Malaysia’s Prime Minister announced that the plane ended up in the southern Indian Ocean. Experts came to their conclusion using a mathematical and scientific principle called the Doppler Effect.

The Doppler Effect describes a process where the frequency of a wave approaching an observer is higher, and is lower when the wave is receding. You experience this everyday when a fast car is approaching you. The pitch of the engine sounds higher to you on approach and lower when it drives away from you.

Inmarsat officials and engineers were able to apply the Doppler Effect to the satellite ping data of the plane to determine whether it was moving away or towards the satellite. Inmarsat Senior Vice President Chris McLaughlin said that the mathematics-based process to determine the definitive flight path and direction is “groundbreaking.” 

[ Source : CNN ]