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Watch Two Students Extinguish Fire Using Sound

2 minute read
By Samantha Grossman

A pair of engineering students at George Mason University in Virginia managed to create a fire extinguisher that operates using sound waves.

This started as an idea for a senior research project, and after a year’s worth of tinkering (and spending $600 of their own money), Seth Robertson and Viet Tran created something fully functional, the Washington Post reports. As you’ll see in the clip above, the portable device puts out a blaze in mere seconds.

Sound waves are also “pressure waves, and they displace some of the oxygen,” Tran told the Washington Post, explaining how the apparatus works. At the right frequency, the sound waves “separate the oxygen [in the fire] from the fuel,” he said. “The pressure wave is going back and forth, and that agitates where the air is. That specific space is enough to keep the fire from reigniting.”

After quite a bit of trial and error, Tran and Robertson found the frequency that worked. Before applying for a patent, though, the engineers plan to do a lot more testing. Stay tuned for the day when you’ll be able to use this in your kitchen.

Read next: Multiple Injuries in Manhattan Building Collapse

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See the Scene of the East Village Building Collapse and Fire

Building Collapse Manhattan
A building fire is seen from overhead in the East Village of New York City on March 26, 2015.NYPD Special Ops/AP
A building fire is seen from overhead in the East Village of New York City on March 26, 2015.
A building fire is seen from overhead in the East Village of New York City on March 26, 2015.NYPD
Building Explosion In Manhattan's East Village
A building on 2nd Avenue burns after a collapse in the East Village section of New York City on March 26, 2015.Andrew Burton—Getty Images
Henry Lihn posted this photo on Instagram of the East Village building fire on March 26, 2015 in New York City.
Henry Lihn posted this photo on Instagram of the building collapse and fire in the East Village section of New York City on March 26, 2015.Henry Lihn (@henrylihn) via Instagram
A NYPD signals residents way from the site of a building fire in the East Village neighborhood of New York City
A New York Police Department (NYPD) officers signals residents away from the site of a building fire in the East Village neighborhood of New York City on March 26, 2015.Ben Hider—Reuters
APTOPIX Building Collapse Manhattan
New York City firefighters work the scene of a large fire and a partial building collapse in the East Village neighborhood of New York City on March 26, 2015.John Minchillo—AP
US-BLAST-FIRE-NEWYORK
A resident watches a blaze at a commercial and residential block in New York City on March 26, 2015.Eduardo Munoz Alvarez—AFP/Getty Images
Building Collapse and Fire in New York
New York City Fire Department firefighters battle a fire in the East Village neighborhood of New York City on March 26, 2015. Andrew Gombert—EPA
A New York City Police helicopter flies near billowing smoke above the site of a residential apartment building collapse and fire in New York City's East Village neighborhood
A New York City Police helicopter flies near billowing smoke above the site of a residential apartment building collapse and fire in the East Village neighborhood of New York City on March 26, 2015.Brendan McDermid—Reuters
Building Explosion In Manhattan's East Village
Smoke rises from a burning building after a collapse on 2nd Avenue in the East Village section of New York City on March 26, 2015.Andrew Burton—Getty Images
Firefighters respond to an explosion and partial building collapse in a residential and commercial mixed use multi-story structure in lower Manhattan, New York on March 26, 2015.
Firefighters respond to an explosion and partial building collapse in a residential and commercial mixed use multi-story structure in lower Manhattan, New York on March 26, 2015.Jason Szenes—EPA
A debris-strewn street seen amid the site of a seven-alarm fire that caused the collapse of two buildings and damage to two other buildings a day after the blaze took place on March 27, 2015 in New York City.
A debris-strewn street seen amid the site of a seven-alarm fire that caused the collapse of two buildings and damage to two other buildings a day after the blaze took place on March 27, 2015 in New York City.Nancy Borowick—Pool/Getty Images

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