--- title: George Mason University Engineering Students Extinguish Fire With Sound description: George Mason University engineers use low-frequency sound waves to put out a blaze canonical: https://time.com/3760361/students-extinguish-fire-with-sound/ author: Samantha Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-26T21:01:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:47:48.930Z og:title: Watch Two Students Extinguish Fire Using Sound og:description: George Mason University engineers use low-frequency sound waves to put out a blaze og:url: https://time.com/3760361/students-extinguish-fire-with-sound/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Two Students Extinguish Fire Using Sound twitter:description: George Mason University engineers use low-frequency sound waves to put out a blaze twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch Two Students Extinguish Fire Using Sound > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Mar 26, 2015 9:01 PM UTC by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Mar 26, 2015 9:01 PM UTC 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](http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/when-it-comes-to-putting-out-fire-gmu-students-show-its-all-about-that-bass/2015/03/22/47a7f8e8-cf1a-11e4-a2a7-9517a3a70506%5Fstory.html?tid=sm%5Ffb%5Fvid). 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_](http://time.com/3760587/manhattan-building-collapses/?iid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ### See the Scene of the East Village Building Collapse and Fire  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. NYPD  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 building collapse and fire in the East Village section of New York City on March 26, 2015. Henry Lihn (@henrylihn) via Instagram  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  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  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  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 the East Village neighborhood of New York City on March 26, 2015. Brendan McDermid—Reuters  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. 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. 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