the presentation of this app is really good of course, it could just be an audio file that you play, but the rotating "fan" which you can actually interact with really sells the illusion

That's... quite incredible. If I heard about such app without seeing it in action - I wouldn't have believed.

No magic here, just physics. What impresses me the most is the ability of that tiny speaker to be able to move that much air.

Wow. You teach very intuitively and many of these subjects are actually nuances in science education. Watching your explanations makes me feel smarter :) . If more people understood these principles, the world would be a much nicer place. You have a powerful brain!

As someone who works with speakers for a living, I'd like to give everyone a friendly fore-warning. This is a cool parlor trick to move air - - but it's not good for your iPhone's speaker (or really any loudspeaker for that matter). When a speaker's surround excursion gets broad to move air like this, it is put under a great deal of stress. Over time, the surround will weaken and rattles will develop. Distortions will grow and in many old iPhones ....you'll notice that the speakers can sound "crackily". Apple and the other manufacturers work hard to develop tiny speakers that produce a full frequency response inside of your phone. I really rely on it and use it a lot. And for the cost of an advanced phone these days - - I'd rather take care of it so that it lasts as long as possible! Addendum: playing the speaker at fixed low frequencies and high volume for periods of time will also heat up the surface mount audio amplifier, reducing not only it's life but also the nearby components on the board (and who knows what that part may be in a crammed iPhone)

Always knew fans make a sound. Never knew sounds make a fan.

Dude, I love your videos. I always learn something new, and you explain really well.

I love learning about sound waves! I was so scared when you put your phone near the flame I thought it would get burned!

The most amazing thing about this channel is how many ideas for videos he comes up with. Sometimes, the explanations are simple and sometimes they reveal some complex or hidden phenomenon, but the result is always fascinating. In addition to being very technically knowledgeable, The Action Lab is extremely creative! It inspires millions to learn about science and to be curious.

some guy: “OH! A FIRE!!!!” the other guy: “its alright bro, i got an app for this”

That's so amazing, James! Thank you

That's a pretty incredible explanation, thanks Sir!

3:23 "Difference between sucking and blowing" ☠️

I remember watching a video with a sound like that just to release the water in my phone

Never thought I would ever hear the connection of words "sucking and blowing" on this channel 😂 Overall great viď as always.

I knew it! kept thinking, it had to be sound it has to do with sound. Its cool how someone made this an app.

I just finished physics, i didn't expect to take an extra class 😂 especially because you are super oddly similar to my teacher. But that was amazing as always, you are genuinely one of the best channels on youtube, your videos can't get boring.

You literally finally gave me the answer to how sub-woofers create so much air when you listen to music loud, while they in fact just vibrate so the sum of air moved is zero. Now I know... it's just because when it pushes out it's coherent, but when it sucks in, it's not :)

Most of my college years I spent rigging subwoofers for people's rigs. Of course speakers can create positive air pressure. Just ask anyone with an inverted subwoofer box, carrying two 12-inch, 1000W subs with holes on the sides. It definitely creates an intense force. Same principle, different scale, different frequency.

nice video haha ^^ .. i already had that app on one of my first iPhones ten years ago or so XD ... cool to see the mechanics explained ^^

3:09 you said that like you’ve said that before 😂

4:02 no comments about that

I've definitely noticed while playing my Quest 2 that, when the volume is cranked, certain sounds will actually blow air across my head/ ears, I don't think it was actually a planned feature but it does work to increase my immersion

We could preinstall big speaker systems generating the right frequency in areas where fire/smoke is detected, effectively replacing sprinklers or adding to them.

The content he puts out is like no one else, ive never seen anyone making science this fun and interesting

the fact you said "It has to do with the difference between sucking and blowing" with a straight face is a marvel of scientific wonder

Great video brother , Very nice explanation

It's very comforting to know that if I ever forget the difference between sucking and blowing, I can always come back to this video.

Interesting explanation - I presumed the app was using sawtooth waves, so in was gradual and out was a snap push. Did NOT expect a sine to have enough range. Well done.

Mighty interesting! I’ve studied music technology & sound design, and even have developed mobile audio apps for a couple of years, but never considered the air coherency stuff you discussed in this video. Thanks!

3:22 thanks for the clarification 😂

I already knew the answer; but, I still enjoyed you explaining it.

04:22 "the sucker"

4:57 that what she said

The fan on the app that you can interact with definitely sells the Illusion

Now I need an app that reads your mind and gives your thoughts a tangible form so everything you think of will be materialized.

Your videos never disappointed me..... Incredible concepts in a quick and understandable video. Great.

Whoever thought of this is genius. I miss the apps that used the reverse effect. When you blow into the microphone to blow stuff away. Phones have many interesting even unintended functions that just died out because people lost interest.

This is the best advertisement of an app

Awesome explanation.

Imagine adding to your resume that made an app that blows candles.

That's extremelly informative and cool Dude, seriously, you took a simple topic and explained it into a creative informative educative and enterteining way, now I understand why my case fans doesnt blow more air when I take the frontal plate off, because the frontal plate has air entrances on the side so it sucks almost the same ammount of air as if there was nothing in front of the fans

This reminded me of the accretion disk around a black hole which looks like the air being sucked in and the jets are the air being pushed out.

this is similar to those put put boats (toy boat powered by a candle) it just pushes and pulls water, but because the pull is conteracted and the push isn't, the boat moves.

Thanks for this. Nicely explained. I'd like to suggest using smoke from an incense stick or the like, instead of the flame, for exploring the flow patterns. Less risky and I think with a longer-affected column. On a somewhat tangential note, I think an incense stick or the like could be used to measure the airflow in a room. This is especially useful in the time of COVID. Good airflow and exchange is as useful as masks are. This is unfortunately hard to do in a restaurant, but meeting rooms, classrooms, etc., it can help.

Ah man I love this! I've always been so fascinated with sound waves. I actually did this for my first science experiment at school and then after doing some research I found out that sound levitation and frequency are completely misunderstood

Yep its cool. I have played with sound my whole life. Its fun. All my life i played with big speakers and what sound can do. Its Frequency. You can make things float on sound with big speakers and sound way up. I have done that a whole lot.

Looks like this will be one hell of a birthday party.

This is why my subwoofer blows my hair about when I turn the volume up in my car. Feels like a constant stream of air going round. Great explanation! I already knew this, but nice to see visual examples with the vacuum cleaner. You're great at explaining things. :)

Thank you for teaching me so much stuff over the years I didnt even know I needed to know lol it's always super interesting and crazy I just learned so much about sound and air

that is honestly so cool

🔥🔥🔥 These fires came while listening 🎧....

So basically, soundwaves are anxiety inducing hyperventilation of breathing.

Same principle as what the two engineering students from George Mason University who invented a new fire extinguisher, capable of putting out flames by manipulating sound waves. Very thorough thanks for the extended explanation, very interesting. Keep up the great content!

i didn’t expect to be brought back to my physics class but i am not disappointed

awesome as always.

"it's to do with the difference between sucking and blowing" A principal not unique to extinguishing 🕯️🕯️🕯️

You should link the app in the description!

The added sound is hilarious

*Wow now I can finally use this app to blow candles in my birthday cake thanks*

Can we appreciate him for never making us bored

Well, I'm a qualified sound technician and I don't remember this ever being explained to me. It's counter-intuitive. So this would only work when the displaced air is passing through a small hole (relative to air displacement over time). So it would create this concerntated ("coherant") air flow during the positive pressure phase. Cool.

"Blows really well" I died.

Awesome hack to pass the summer.

When I first saw your channel I really thought it was just another hydraulic press channel copycat thing, but over the years I have been pleasantly surprised by the variety and quality of content you upload. I am glad I didn't unsubscribe, you deserve it man. ^^

This guy actually keeps his phones speakers near the candle flame; big respect you ;)

i learned more from this guy then i did from school

Really cool, converting electromagnetic waves into sound and air wave

This channel is where physics videos were 10 years ago and I like it reminds me of simpler times

There's actually a fire extinguisher that uses sound that was developed by students at George Mason University in Virginia. It's being tested for wild fires here in California

the audio makes a very special sound which is able to instantly stop fire when at 30 - 60 hertz

It quietly makes high frequent insults to the fire that can’t be heard by the human ear and the fire starts to feel bad about yourself thus goes out

That is also why pop-pop tin boats move. (Aside from more also very interesting stuff that keeps them running for however long the candle provides enough heat) - Great vid!

1:22 ya know got to dust off my left over coke before I start anew

Ahhhh the cool "utility" apps in the first iphones like the 3 and 3gs. Twas fun having this as kids in school

I was like "ayo watch the fire ay- WATCH THE FIRE MAN"

I knew if this was true it would have to be the waves, but I was stumped on the same "zero sum game" thing. The fact about blowing generating more coherent air compared to suction was fascinating and somehow escaped me all my life despite encountering it all the time.

Great explanation! First i thought it's impossible, because i imagined waves travelling, but this coherent thing "blowed" my mind 👌🏻

The cellphone is very close to the candle flame wow it's amazing, even though it's a bit scary if it hits the cellphone

Seriously gives that vibe of those apps that make your flashlight as bright as the sun. I was so confused when it actually worked 💀

3:24 caught me off guard. Was about to spit out my coffee.

Thinking back on these apps from back in highschool has often made my brain hurt trying to figure out how they could work. Thank you so much making this. Fantastic video.

The key to this action is that when air enters, it comes from all directions. But exists in one direction.

4:57 Great words by The Action Lab 🛐

The only thing I was missing was an animation of particles moving incoherently during the sucking-phase and then particles moving coherently, as a stream, during the blowing-phase. Anyway, great explanation with adequate level of detail!

I was expecting this to be a debunking video honestly. That’s pretty wild. Now we need an app that can do acoustic levitation

There should be a pitch where the speaker gives the most amount of air push (a sweet spot) where the pitch is as low as possible without dropping in sound pressure level. Would be awesome to know this pitch! haha

Great video as always! So how much did it cost for you to replace the burnt speaker?

1:16. Uhm. Lol. “Particles”.

It's great to see content on this channel that shows how physics in the real world works. Basic high school physics will tell you that sound doesn't move air but real physics isn't about frictionless, idealized models behaving in a vacuum.

I'm wearing headset while watching this, now my ear feels good

“It has to do with the difference between sucking and blowing” -The Action Lab 2021

This is like that time I found an app that apparently detected metals and seeing the reviews I tried it out, I was surprised and amazed when it work

I guess its using the phone speakers and creating sound waves to mimic blowing air

Sweet. I’m returning the leaf blower I just bought from Home Depot! 👌🏻

this is a cool app thanks for showing us this

Thanks very much for your video! You nailed it from every angle, including the physics in such detail. Indeed, the assymetry is an essential part of Nature. Matter can have pressure to push/blow, but to pull/suck we need dark energy (a Dark Sucker app? hmm...). Really cool. Thanks, Qneo

You can demo sound just being air blown about really well with subwoofers in a car. The subwoofers will be separate in an enclosure in the boot/trunk but still easily flap the air around Inside the car. I even had an odd experience when I wired one of two subwoofers incorrectly so that one sub completely canceled out the sound of the other sub. Moving the stereo balance left to right had loud sound on either left or right but no sound when it was both. Luckily my dad realised what it was as soon as I explained it, they were going out of phase I think they call it?

Thanks!!

The speakers move air when being used, when the speakers move back and fourth it moves air. It is basically moving fast enough to blow air thus blowing a candle out.