Imagine firefighters throwing a rave party every time there's a fire

Maybe this is why fire force has such beefy sound effects

Imagine calling the fire department and instead of sirens you hear dubstep getting closer.

“HONEY GET THE SPEAKER, THE KITCHEN IS ON FIRE!” “T-THE WHAT?!”

Audio Engineer here. I saw a video of the Swedish Air Force putting out a forest fire by detonating a bomb or missile in the airspace above. The concussive force of the explosion extinguished the fire.. it's a fascinating application of the physics of controlling the motion of air... now I gotta watch that video again. it's so badass!!

When I was a kid in the 80s, I remember my dad telling me about a dream he had. There was a forest fire, and a bunch of helicopters with huge speakers hanging off that were somehow extinguishing the fire. What a weird thing to dream. Later he decided that they must have been microwave dishes, and set out unsuccessfully to invent a way to extinguish fire with microwaves instead. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Imagine a fire starts and someone just goes "DROP THE BASS!"

"wiggling the flame to death" This is my new favorite line

This actually seems kinda useful maybe for 0g firefighting in the future? Since putting water, CO2 or foam on stuff is way more difficult when you have to make it stick and can't just rely on gravity

When the Bass slaps so hard that it's no longer Lit...

Imagine a fire truck pulling up to a house fire strapped with a giant speaker and extinguishing the flames with sick dubstep beats

I love how straightforward your videos are! Direct, to the point, all relevant information and graphics to help, assist, and teach. Thank you!

Can you put that speaker+vortex cannon combo into a smoke-filled chamber? It'll probably create some funky standing-esque waves, but I can't predict what they'd look like or how far they'd extend.

We desperately need to get a giant subwoofers onto our firetrucks. 😂

So happy I guessed the reason the speaker worked vs the fan. To be fair, I love car audio. I've messed with speakers all my adult life and know how they work physically. It still amazes me how electricity and magnetism interact. I will never get over how amazing that is.

I dont know what compelled you to think this was an indoor activity

Incredibly fascinating experiment. The whole idea about manipulating sound to diffuse fire is amazing. The potential of science never ceases to amaze.

Cool video. If People are interested , what the speakers are generating through the tube is called a "synthetic jet". You can even generate propulsion with this principle.

The future of firefighter tech

I work at an injection mold plant. A person working the press had a part come out on fire. The parts are made of nylon. He used a compressed air hose to try and put it out and the part was soft from the heat and he blew flaming nylon on the press and started a fire haha!

I can provide a little more detail on how the bass reflex port works. Speaker design is all about modifying the phase of the waves coming off the speaker cone, not providing airflow. The speaker cone emits positive waves off the front and negative waves off the back (180 degrees or pi radians out of phase), and if these waves meet they cancel out. If you run a speaker in open air it will have no bass response and the high-frequency response is determined purely by the dimensions of the speaker cone and your position relative to it. In a sealed speaker you contain the rear wave of the speaker and get a slowly-declining bass response, with the air inside the box acting as a spring which changes the resonance of the speaker and naturally protects the speaker from moving too far and breaking at low frequencies. In a bass reflex (ported) speaker the air inside the speaker box still acts as a spring at most frequencies, but now the plug of air contained in the port acts as a mass which forms a resonator that gets excited by the wave coming from the rear of the speaker cone. This is exactly the same thing that causes an empty bottle to whistle when you blow over the rim, a helmholtz resonator. The resonance of this system determines what frequency range will be boosted, which is accomplished by delaying the waves coming off the rear of the speaker so they're in-phase with the waves coming off the front of the speaker. This only works for a narrow frequency range, below which the speaker will put out less bass than a speaker with a sealed back because waves grow longer at low frequencies and the time delay from the helmholtz resonator is constant, thus the sound waves from the rear of the speaker cone will be out of phase with the front again at low frequencies (the useful range is where the waves are less than 90 degrees or pi/2 radians out of phase). The air inside the box no longer acts as a spring at very low frequencies, so ported speakers are more vulnerable to being damaged by driving them at bass frequencies below their tuning, and if the air in the port becomes turbulent the output level can suddenly hit a wall or even drop, along with a lot of distortion. The overall effect is a ported speaker can produce more bass in a certain range than a sealed speaker or use less power to do so, but you can't get as deep of bass safely out of a ported speaker as a sealed speaker without making the ported speaker very large and when it hits its limits it's very audible. For how this relates to the experiment in the video, the speaker will work better from the front at a different frequency than the rear. The velocity of the air coming out of the bass reflex port will be maximal at its resonant frequency, and the speaker cone will actually move almost zero distance at this frequency, so the velocity of the air at the front of the speaker will be minimal when it is maximal from the bass reflex port. If you want maximum velocity from the front of a reflex-loaded speaker, you need to use a frequency that's either below or above the resonance of the port, preferably above to operate it safely. If you can reach the front of the speaker cone, then you can find the port tuning by ear if you turn the speaker off and tap lightly on the speaker cone - it will ring at the port tuning frequency just like an empty bottle.

But what's the best frequency to put out the fire? Or does the best frequency change based on the flame's size and other factors?

I love the idea of using multiple speakers and trying to pin point the sound waves on a given spot (the fire). You could use less force per speaker but maximise in a given spot, maybe even hit a given area like a printer focusing on a single point at a time untill the total flame is put out.

Air vortex with the capacity to expand filtering the air frequency to update the balance, volume and thres. Great formula

- Excuse me can you keep it low a bit. we're trying to sleep over here. - Oh sorry I was trying to blow a fire out.

"OH NO A FIRE!" "Quick DJ, DROP THAT BEAT!"

Every day I learn wild new stuff on KZfaq.I’ve never seen anything like this 😮.

I do speaker engineering as a hobby and those ports have a specific tuning frequency. Around that frequency the air in the port move back and forth with so much energy that around there the cones of the speaker's barely move while the port generated all the output. While cone speakers are limited in the amount of how much they can vibrate the port is not. A ported speaker with a decent 6,5inch woofer has as much or sometimes a bit more output than a 12inch in a sealed box.

I would love to see how this concept would work when applied with a Rotary Subwoofer since they're capable of moving an even greater volume of air on a household scale.

I bet a "bass cannon" (For example the Bose Acoustic Wave Cannon) would work very well, even at a pretty good distance. I vote for a re-visit on this topic, but using a BAWC.

Sick! I actually wondered if soun had any effect on air. Now I know. Thanks dude. 😁

Fire: burns fiercely Action lab: Im gonna wiggle you to death

There is a Mythbusters episode where they make a giant subwoofer actuated by the drive shaft of a car. I'd love to see the extinguishing capability of something like that.

Fun stuff!! Maximum air movement through a bass reflex port occurs at the port's tuning frequency, and is actually TWICE as much air movement as the front of the cone(s) because the Helmholtz resonance has a phase-inversion characteristic. At the port tuning frequency the cone movement virtually stops and the air in the port is what moves. Also, the rattly distortion you hear with the air cannon might be the woofers' suspensions going non-linear because the air cannon permits airflow out of the port more easily than airflow back into the port, in effect "sucking" the cones inward, and out of their linear excursion range.

It is said that as we stand right now, firefighters are not well equipped for putting out fires on lithium batteries that are in electric vehicles and other products. I wonder if this would work on extinguishing lithium batteries on fire ? Maybe, that could be another future experience of yours! Thank you for sharing.!

I literally used to do this in my car with a lighter as i had 2 subs in the back. Also the car works as a sort of speaker box when using more powerful speakers and better box arrangements so the affect is on a bigger scale

1:00 Someone needs to create a gif from this

This reminds me of something I saw years ago, but never saw again. I remember watching a video where they used a specific frequency to cause smoke and contaminants to congeal and fall out of the air. It was something they were thinking of using in industrial smokestacks and similar areas. Maybe you could check that out and try an experiment with that.

Thanks for making science more fun😊

Great work to explain this. Thank you

It's nice having you show experiments that fail and then adjust variables and retry. Thank you

This is why i sub to this channel. Little cool science facts I had ZERO knowledge of. Believe it or not you just helped me finish up my one shot campaign with this science experiment. It gave me an idea. Super random but you have a positive effect on people. Always remember that!

That attachment on the speaker makes a really cool sound, like the depth charge thing from Boba Fett's ship.

4:16 Elevating the pan off the table can help the fan work better by reducing reflected air interference, improving its ability to extinguish the fire.

Going into why blowing can extinguish verses when it can make the fire hotter/bigger is great and answered one of my questions about fires in general. Praise God for access to videos that helps us potentially learn something everyday including science

Once again, you've answered a question I never asked but found incredibly interesting. Keep answering those questions. Happy New Year. 😎

My playlist puts out fires 🔥

“Wiggling the fire to death” is a funny way to put it 😂 I have that same speaker & when you brought that thing out, I was already picturing putting a fire out with my speaker as a party trick lol. Sadly, it wasn’t as simple as it seemed at first ahahaha

Revisit this with a rotory subwoofer that literally, turns fan blades and motor into a rotory subwoofer that hits frequencies so low (infrasound) and in high power that they can shake your house.

AMAZING.....you created electronic "Whistler Waves" they are extremely low freq.

In ancient Indian culture we can ignite light by some specific music, we can rain water by some other specific music like "rag malhar"

fan doesnt only flattend flame but it also contributes to higher temps around a fire thus more chance of fire spread.. interesting experiment.🤔👏

I bet sonic weapons could do exactly this. They're designed to be hyper-focused, kinda a laser of sound that makes your skin feel like it's burning. Also, look into recent research on the Acoustic Trap Display; which basically makes a hologram using sound to move tiny RGB beads super fast.

The image of firefighters pulling out a large speaker and playing a sick beat at the house fire gave me a good chuckle

This is a method sometimes used for blowing out oil well fires. In that case, the "speaker" is an explosive, and in some cases (at least one in the ex USSR) a *nuclear* explosive. The shock wave blows out the flame in a way that not even a hurricane could.

I remember seeing something similar on an episode of Macgyver. I think they used something like a bucket attached to speaker and a specific frequency.

putting off fire with a fire music is actually fire 🔥

We used to sell those air vortex cannons where I work under the name "AirZooka" and let me tell you: They are a ton of fun. I can't tell you how many times I've blown peoples' minds by yanking a piece of paper out of their hands or smacking them in their rain ponchos. They'd be 25 feet away at the end of the room. My accuracy over the years was unrivaled... And what's fun is that the wind takes a few seconds to get there so that would throw them off too. This is definitely one of those products that you sell a lot more of if you are demonstrating them rather than just having them sitting on a shelf. You can find them online for about $20. Maybe less.

Well explained and entertainingly demoed. 👍

As a firefighter and an A1 im here 😢 for this. Lets go!

1:58 "That's pretty disappointing. Now I actually DO have a kitchen fire."

I went to engineering school with those guys. Theirs was capstone project that won that year. Smart dudes.

That's new for me, you should also try the one frequency that can levitate a ball, i've seen it in an old video about the phisics of it, tho you will need some powerfull speakers

this was used on the show scorpion. very cool that its not just scifi

Got to love the testing "I gonna have a Flaming Frying Pan and a giant speaker!" In my house this would end up with a 911 call.

I was hoping you’d give a demonstration on how sound could put out active flames of a fire. The flame would go out, but you would still have the hot embers which could still catch fire. I guess the initial firefighting would be done by sound and second wave of Water or foam or whatever the cause would be. Thoughts? I absolutely loved your video!

Good video, I would have liked to see the fan also with an air canon as a better control.

This is the definition of "Energy cannot be Created or Destroyed"

Your production quality is skyrocketing. Loved the firefighting speaker 😂

"Wiggling the flame to death" now that's something new that I've learnt

Damn this put off my fireplace 🔥🔥🔥🔥😮

What about possibly transferring those frequencies over the stream of water? Letting the water move around the air as it hits whatever it's being aimed at.

It is a beautiful demonstration! I guess vibrating air slow down lamirar flow of fresh and hot air streams, so that how it probably works, isn't it?

Great episode, I hadn't heard of this before and was fascinated by it and the demonstration you did. I really enjoy your channel.

The new fire extinguisher !!! You’re in to something. Don’t stop now. 🔥🔥🔥

Dubstep firefighters sounds like a show I'd watch.

It would be really cool to implement this into firefighter gear

mmm yes, i love cooking up my fresh alcohol on a monday morning 1:41

Most commercial speakers have wide dispersion so that they sound good from wide angles. You would need a woofer with a deeper parabolic curve in order to focus the force more in one direction

Great idea and wit h some specific tweaking it just might work on large scales!

You, sir, are the biggest dork. And with that being said, I freaking love you, man. Keep up the excellent work, and I watch all your videos!

On episodes like this I'd love to see you make a note about the safety measures you take. I know your setup is already plenty safe, but it's good to be teaching that even experienced people don't rely on confidence alone.

Really interesting. Three details I'd like to know: 1. The phone app used very high frequency by the sound of it, the speakers low. What is the science behind choosing the best frequency for a particular size or type of fire. 2. Alcohol does not really represent most kitchen fires. If you can set up a safe demo or experiment with an oil file, that would be useful. 3. Do the walls of the frying pan block the sound from reaching the base of the fire?

Next time neighbour house on fire,the other neighbour around started a disco.

Sound and frequencies are under rated.

Simply Science! Amazing 😲🔥 Love your videos man!

Use case i can think for this is kitchens. These are grease fires so water isnt an option. Usually the emergency switch will douse the area in foam to quell fires which will shut down the kitchen for days since it all needs to be cleaned up. I could see sound being and alternative.

Sound is so mysterious and very much unexplored, i think frequency and vibrations make and break everything in this universe

6:50 The way he says it is hilarious

4:15 i think that the fan it just provides more oxygen to the fire.

Imagine a firefighter come to the scene with spongebob's jellyfish jam on maximum volume.

Incredible ! Thank you !!!!

Ah, so that's what my neighbors are doing, they're just constantly trying to put out fires all the time.

My hypothesis halfway through was sort of right; I assumed the sound detached the fire from its fuel source and caused it to expend the fuel it could hold onto faster than it could resupply itself with.

7:27 That view😂

Sound affects more than fire... If you study a little you will realize that everything in this universe is frequency, sound. Matter oscillates in esoecific frequencies that form from tangible matter to the intangible. Frequencies can affect our biology and its functioning. This is the reason why many ancient cultures used sound as a method of treating illnesses or to better cope with an ongoing healing.

The net movement is because of the venturi effect - moving more air through a smaller opening by narrowing it like an open cone. Carbeurators take advantage of this as well.

The PORT that you are calling the 'Bass Reflex Port' is actually just the PORT... the Bass Reflex "port" is the rectangular ...umm... ... thing... above it... a Reflex Port is just a membrane that is able to move back and forth like a speaker and adds just a little bit extra 'ummpfh' to the bass... it's totally sealed and doesn't let air move between the outside and the inside of the speaker cabinet.... the Port you refer to is just an opening in the speaker cabinet that has a tube that just stick into the inside of the cabinet and ends with the smooth conical shape you see on the outside... this allows the speakers to move more freely as per their design and the tube acts as a wave guide which tunes the sound to be more like what the artist intended because the shape of the cabinet can change this in many ways..... Sound and sound reproduction absolutely fascinates me and the idea of extinguishing fire with sound alow is AMAZING!!! When I first saw that video you show of the two guy putting out a firte with a backpack linked to a tube that you aim at the fire, I ASTONISHED!!! Mainly because I understand how it's performing and it's not that the air is moving the way you show with the open port, it's putting out the fire with the vibrations.... It's kinda hard to explain the difference but I think you're gonna demonstrate this in the rest of the video (I paused it @ 2:30 just to explain all of this... lol) I think it's time to get back to the video :D lmao

Really fire demo 🔥

Great discovery ,hope you make make more progression