# Is the classical Doopler Effect, for light shift, $1-v/c$, exact? What is it an approximation of?

Is the classical doopler effect for light shift equal to $1-v/c$ exact or an approximation of a classical formula? I know that it is an approximation of the relativistic formula, but what was the corresponding classical formula? I ask this because in Einstein's On the Electrodynamics of moving bodies he derives $\sqrt\frac{1-v/c}{1+v/c}$ and notes that it is different from the classical case. I'm not exactly sure what formula he is comparing it to.

-
Classical mechanics is the approximation of relativistic mechanics when the speed involved is small compared to that of light. –  Siyuan Ren May 28 '12 at 2:41
Doppler, not doopler... –  WIMP May 28 '12 at 7:14

He is comparing $\sqrt{1-v\over 1+v}$ to the classical Doppler shift $(1-v)$ (where v is the velocity divided by c, since I use units where c=1). The formula you give $1-v\over 1+v$ doesn't have a classical interpretation, and Einstein reduces to Doppler's at slow speeds.