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Anonymous
Anonymous asked in Science & MathematicsOther - Science · 1 decade ago

Can soundwaves put out fire??

One day while i was flipping channels, i came across

a program showing forest fires. Trees burning,

firefighters, entire mountain sides engulfed in flames ..etc

In the program, it showed how the wind can cause

fires to spread and with wind comes more oxygen.

Oxygen fuels the fire.

So i was thinking ...... wind is moving. Oxygen is

just a gas molecule in the wind. I remember seeing

helicopters dropping hundreds of gallons of water

on these flames to put out the fire. So why couldn't

we use SOUND?

Sound waves move thru the air like wind. Amplification

of certain notes might fracture the flame at the combustion

and cause the fire to cease.

Certain gases like oxygen might be affected by various

noises or pitches which could result in the destablization

of the fire at the sub-atomic level.

And if this noise or pitch can be discovered, maybe

fires can be put out with sound. Maybe homes or offices

can have smoke dectors that detect fire and aim a blast

of sound to put out this fire. Maybe fire extigushers can

be replaced with something like a flashlight that can send

out a beam of light with a burst of this sound.

A definate advantage would be the elimination of

the water damage created by sprinkler systems

and firefighter's waterhoses.

Just thinking.

But if someone does figure it out and makes

millions .........all i want is 10%! Send a check!

2 Answers

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    Thermo is right, it's definitely worth investigating! Great science fair project and it could actually produce something useful. But note that sound does not move like wind. Wind is the movement of a whole mass of air, whereas sound moves the air forward a teeny bit and then moves it back.

    Major computer installations will use Halon gas for fire suppression instead of water because it does not damage the equipment. Of course, it's a lot more expensive than water.

    Buildings use doors which automatically close in a fire. This makes it harder for fire to spread to adjacent areas, but also restricts the air supply to the fire.

  • Thermo
    Lv 6
    1 decade ago

    Find out yourself by experimenting.

    The only way to be sure.

    Use all kinds of frequencies and intensities.

    Please report what you will find.

    Th

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