Question to the scientist: Why does helium distort the voice? Why does helium change the voice? A balloon, a voice… what do they have in common.

Helium is the second most abundant chemical element in the universe after hydrogen. However, among fans of "joking" this inert gas, of course, holds the palm. And no wonder: one puff of helium - and it's time for you to voice Donald Duck.

Helium belongs to the group of inert gases, which means it has a certain degree of narcotic effect. Did not know? It's OK! According to this indicator, helium is inferior to all other noble gases, so that a person who decides to inhale it will not experience addiction. But it is very possible to amuse the company with the help of this gas.

Everyone is wondering why the voice changes from helium. It's simple: when ingested, the gas acts on the vocal cords, causing them to contract. The result is a thin "mouse" voice. And to be precise, it's all about the nature and properties of the voice.

Helium is by far the world's most "fun" inert gas

The human voice is sound waves created by the vibration of the vocal cords. Helium is denser than the air we normally breathe. The timbre of the voice directly depends on this very density, and the vibration frequency of the ligaments determines the pitch of the sound emitted. Now it’s clear why the voice changes from helium?

A balloon, a voice... what do they have in common?

History has not preserved the name of the first person who inhaled helium and spoke in a funny voice. But his faithful followers do not let the tradition fade away and continue to amuse everyone around. All you need is a balloon, a voice and a little imagination.

A helium balloon will brighten up even the most boring party.

Entertainment is safe enough, if not abused. Helium is an inert gas, odorless and tasteless. Therefore, a person who has inhaled helium can only be recognized by his voice. And that's why helium changes its voice at the moment of "recognition" no one will think - this idea is too hilarious!

The density of helium is almost 7 times less than that of ordinary air. When this inert gas is inhaled, the vocal cords increase their frequency of vibration, and the voice sounds in an increased tone. To some, the sounds made resemble the voice of a cartoon character, and to others, the squeak of a mouse or the speech of a baby. But, in any case, it becomes around.

But after inhaling sulfur fluoride - a heavy gas, which is 5 times, even girls begin to speak in a low bass.

Is inhaling helium safe?

In general, it is considered quite safe, since oxygen enters the human body along with the gas. In addition, it is difficult to recognize a person who has inhaled helium, except perhaps for the moment when he starts to say something.

And the gas itself cannot be determined - it has neither smell nor taste. However, helium can cause some side effects.

Some people may experience signs of oxygen deprivation, such as dizziness, headache, difficulty breathing, and nausea. The vocal cords, when helium is inhaled, vibrate at a higher frequency, which causes the desired effect, but as a result they can be damaged, and this process is considered irreversible.

Deep and frequent breaths of this inert gas can provoke the appearance of helium bubbles in the blood. Once they reach the brain, they can cause a stroke and even be fatal.

It may also be unsafe to simply oversaturate the lungs with helium, when the oxygen content in the human body is significantly reduced.

Here's another interesting fact: if a person is temporarily placed in a chamber that is filled only with helium, after a while he will suffocate. This is due to the fact that such a gas contains only a couple of tenths of a percent of oxygen.

In addition to this, we can add that pampering with helium is especially dangerous for pregnant women, and not only for the expectant mother, but also for her baby. Therefore, it is best to simply admire the light balls, without trying to inhale the gas contained in them.

If you decide to try the effect of "laughing gas" on yourself, do not inhale a large amount of helium at a time. It’s better to take a few small breaths, and when the effect of the gas wears off, try again, just don’t overdo it, because health and life are the most important thing.

Many have tried to inhale helium from balloons and talk in an unusual, funny voice, or watched how friends do it. The human voice at the same time becomes higher, thinner and resembles a child's. Why does helium have such an effect on the voice, and are there substances that have the opposite effect?

Helium balloons are available at any party supply store. They are lighter than balloons inflated with ordinary air, and if released, they will fly high into the sky. But if you untie the rope and inhale helium into the lungs, then on exhalation it turns out very funny voice.

The sounds that a person utters arise as a result of the vibration of the vocal cords. Our bundles vibrate elastically in air, the density of which at 20 degrees is about 1.2 kg/m 3 . Helium is an inert, colorless and odorless gas, the density of which is several times lower than that of air. At the same temperature, the density of helium is only 0.18 kg/m 3 . The less dense gas compared to air does not offer sufficient resistance, the vocal cords vibrate at a higher frequency and the voice becomes higher.

But such a miraculous effect, as it turned out, is not observed in all people. For some naturally high-voiced women, inhaling helium makes little difference.

Quite naturally, the question arises, is it not harmful to have fun in this way? Of course, breathing helium is unnatural for a person. The gas itself is chemically inert, that is, under normal conditions it does not enter into chemical reactions with surrounding substances and does not form stable compounds. This is the basis of the opinion that inhaling helium is a harmless entertainment. But breathing this gas is safe only in small quantities. Prolonged inhalation of helium instead of normal air will cause the body to begin to experience a lack of oxygen, which may not end as fun as it started.

But after inhaling another gas - sulfur fluoride - you can observe the opposite effect. This gas is very dense, 5 times denser than ordinary air. When inhaled, the vocal cords vibrate at a lower frequency, and the voice becomes low and rough, even in young girls who naturally have a high voice.

Helium is a noble gas that has a number of specific properties. And in particular, it allows you to change the voice of a person, making him squeaky, like cartoon characters. But why is this happening, and what other properties does this gas have? Is it safe to inhale it, and can there be side effects? How studied is this substance, where is it used?

Helium is used in many ways, the easiest way to find it is from balloon sellers who use it extensively. This is a well-studied substance about which quite a lot can be said.

Helium features

Helium is an inert gas and has all the features characteristic of this group. It does not have a typical smell or taste, it is colorless, a helium cloud will not differ in appearance from the surrounding air. The element has a feature that is fixed only in it - at a temperature of -268.9 degrees Celsius, it liquefies, but to achieve its transformation into solid state under normal earth conditions will not succeed. To do this, it is necessary not only to lower the temperature to 1 K, but also to increase the atmospheric pressure to 25 atmospheres. But this has nothing to do with the ability of gas to change a person's voice.

Another feature of this substance will be more interesting within the framework of the question under consideration. Helium is an extremely light gas, only hydrogen is lighter. It is very common in nature, accounting for approximately 23 percent of all substances in the universe known to man. Matter is born in stars during nuclear fusion. This gas is 7 times less dense than air. earth's atmosphere, being the second lightest among all existing ones. Only hydrogen is ahead of him.

Interesting fact: it is the low density that makes helium interesting for balloon sellers. By filling balloons with it, people provide them with the opportunity to rush up into the sky. Thanks to gas, it is possible to lift into the sky not only balloons, but also entire airships. Less dense matter tends upward, these are the laws of physics.

How does the gas manage to change the voice?

To understand the issue of voice changes under the influence of helium, it is necessary to take into account the fact of its low density and consider one more nuance - how a person manages to make sounds, speech. Any type of sound, including the human voice, is a vibration. As for human speech, these sounds are produced by the movement of the vocal cords, which are located in the larynx. The timbre of the voice is formed by the frequency of oscillations, the higher this indicator, the higher the voice.

Interesting:

Why does seasickness occur? Reasons how to get rid, photos and videos

In a normal air environment, a person's voice remains familiar, sounds are produced and transmitted in a standard way. But if the indicators of the environment change, then the voice can also change - in a significant or insignificant way. Some people note that voices can sound slightly different even in heavy fog, when the humidity of the environment changes. And this is not a subjective opinion. When an inert gas is inhaled, the vocal cords are compressed, the frequency of their vibrations increases significantly. With an increase in the frequency of vibrations, the voice also changes, it becomes higher, funny.

There is a substance that gives the opposite effect. If sulfur fluoride is inhaled, the voice will sound lowered, the female voice will be perceived as a male bass. It is one of the heavy gases, its density is 5 times higher than that of air.

Is helium safe?

AT in general terms inhalation of helium can be considered relatively safe fun, if you breathe not only helium, but also ordinary air, and do not indulge in entertainment with special zeal. Indeed, otherwise you can get oxygen starvation. The first signs of this are nausea, dizziness, headache, and breathing problems. In addition, you should not do this regularly, because there is a risk of damage to the vocal cords. They must be protected, damage in this area can be irreversible, damaging the voice, or making it impossible to talk. The human voice apparatus is highly sensitive.

Probably each of us knows that if you inhale a little gas from a helium balloon, then the voice will become thinner and will sound funny. But not everyone will be able to answer why the voice changes from helium when the gas is inhaled ?! And all because helium has a much lower density. The vocal cords vibrate elastically in the air stream. And since the density of helium is seven times lower than air, it means that it loads the ligaments much less, which is why they vibrate with a higher frequency and the voice becomes squeaky and funny.
Now let's take a closer look at how and why helium changes the voice. The mechanics of the human voice is an amazing biological phenomenon. It all starts with the fact that air enters the lungs through the larynx and then leaves the lungs in the form of carbon dioxide again through the larynx. This can be manipulated in several ways. For example, you can release the air, and all that is heard by others is the sound of breathing. If you need to say something, the muscles of the larynx and vocal cords are included in the matter.

The air in your lungs pushes your diaphragm to relax. It then travels through your windpipe and into a small opening that has two folds of skin (vocal cords) on either side of it, in the shape of a V. As the muscles that control your voice tense and relax, they create the vibration of the cords. When these cords vibrate, they release pulses of air. Tension in these muscles creates differences in frequency. The higher the voltage, the higher the frequency and therefore the higher the voice. This frequency is measured in hertz (well, that is, how many times per second it repeats). For example, almost all human speech sounds typically range from 200 hertz to 8000 hertz.

After exiting the vocal window, the air moves into an area of ​​your mouth that can be informally called your vocal tract. As you manipulate your tongue, jaw, and lips, you can change the resonant frequencies created by your vocal connections, producing many different speech sounds.
The sound created by air flowing at different frequencies and resonances creates our voice. Another factor affecting stride is the thickness of the vocal cords. The thicker the folds of the skin, the deeper the voice, and vice versa - the thinner the folds and the thinner the voice.

So now let's talk about the air that comes out of your lungs. The number of molecules in a fixed volume of gas, like the volume of air in the lungs, does not change with the type of gas (assuming the pressure is low enough). As long as the temperature and pressure are the same, it doesn't matter if it's helium or air, the number of molecules is the same. The mass of these molecules is then measured by atomic weight. Atomic weight - dimensionless physical quantity(which is why it works so well for a gas that doesn't necessarily have a given size). This is the ratio of the average mass of an element's atoms compared to 1/12 of the mass of a carbon-12 atom. All this basically means is that the higher the number, the heavier the gas.
Helium has an atomic weight of 4.002602. Air, which is approximately 80% nitrogen, has different characteristics depending on environment. Because of this, its actual atomic weight cannot be accurately determined. However, it is typically about seven times heavier than helium.

So, why does the voice change from helium when the gas is inhaled?! The answer lies in how sound waves travel through a given gas. The denser or heavier the gas, the slower the sound wave will be. Helium is much lighter than air. Then the speed of the sound wave through helium will be much higher. So when you inhale helium and use it as a source of perceived sound, you simply increase the speed or frequency of your voice. You don't change the pitch, as your vocal cords vibrate at the same rate as when you use air. You also do not change the configuration of your vocal tract. Therefore, while the fundamental frequency of the chords remains the same, the frequency of the sound heard by others increases due to the wave passing through helium much faster than through air.