Step 1: Picture a sound wave bouncing off a moving column of blood. The motion compresses or stretches the wave, altering how many cycles arrive at the probe each second, which is precisely the frequency.
Step 2: The probe transmits at a known frequency and listens for the echo. Comparing the transmitted and received frequencies gives the Doppler shift, the foundation of Doppler ultrasound.
Step 3: Flow toward the probe raises the echo frequency, flow away from it lowers the frequency. This shift is converted into a velocity reading, letting clinicians measure blood flow.
Step 4: Amplitude relates to loudness and direction to the path of travel, neither of which defines the Doppler phenomenon. The defining change is in frequency.
\[\boxed{\text{Frequency of sound}}\]