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Wrong answersThis is an interesting question, which is often answered wrongly. The usual wrong answers are something like one of these:
  1. The speed of sound is faster in helium than air, so ...
    • the sound has a higher frequency.
    • the sound waves bunch up when they pass from helium to air, giving them a shorter wavelength which makes them sound higher.
  2. Your vocal folds vibrate faster in helium than air, because helium is lighter than air so provides less resistance to the movement of the folds.

From a physical point of view, explanation 1 is nonsense. It's true that sound travels faster in helium. However, if your vocal folds vibrate at a particular frequency, say 100 times a second, there will still be 100 pulses a second reaching your friend's ear, no matter how fast they travel or through what changes of medium. This frequency is what we perceive as pitch.

There is a very small grain of truth in explanation 2. However, the main resistance to movement of the vocal folds comes from their own mass (inertia), tension, connection to surrounding tissue, etc. Compared to these, the retarding effect of air resistance is negligible, and the effect of reducing it is imperceptible.

Right answerThe above taken together suggest that breathing in helium does not change the pitch of your voice. This is in fact correct: helium speech is not higher in pitch than normal speech. So why does it sound "squeaky"?

The answer is that the higher speed of sound in helium changes the resonances of your vocal tract. In particular, the formants or resonant frequencies are higher. These formants affect the timbre of your voice, as well as what vowel people hear. It's the change in timbre that people notice in helium voice. This sometimes makes them mistakenly think the pitch of the voice is higher.

A bit more detailWhen your vocal folds vibrate, they produce waves at the vibration frequency (f say), as well as at all higher multiples of that frequency (2×f, 3×f, etc). Completely independently, the vocal tract has certain resonant frequencies depending on its shape and size (and the speed of sound). Partials (multiples of f) near the resonant frequencies are amplified, and other multiples damped, when the sound wave passes through the vocal tract. You can change these resonant frequencies by moving your tongue and lips - which is how you make different vowel sounds.

The higher speed of sound in helium makes the formant frequencies higher, so the partials that are amplified are higher with helium in the vocal tract than with air. This causes the distinctive change of timbre (and also makes it harder to distinguish different vowels).

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12y ago
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6mo ago

Helium is less dense than air, which causes sound waves to travel faster through it. This changes the resonant frequencies of your vocal tract, making your voice sound higher-pitched, resulting in a squeaky effect when you speak.

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12y ago

Your voice changes when you inhale helium because pressure waves (sound) move at a slightly higher velocity through helium than air. This is because helium is less dense than air. Also, because the density is less than that of air, helium balloons float upwards.

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12y ago

Because helium is less denser than air so oxygen travels through it much faster which makes your voice sound squeaky.

:)

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12y ago

It could go through your lungs and it tightens your vocal cords and make them move fast and it makes a high note.(It pushes air through your voice.)Thats why helium makes your voice squeak.

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14y ago

it tightens up your vocal chords increasing their tension, and thus the frequency when excited by the air passing through.

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13y ago

because your penis gets smaller causing your voice to become higher

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11y ago

When the helium gets into your lungs from breathing, it makes you sound funny because the heavier your lungs are, you talk more low because helium is lighter than oxygen.

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15y ago

yes

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Q: Why does your voice squeak when you breathe in helium?
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Can helium change your voice forever?

No, inhaling helium may temporarily change the pitch of your voice due to the change in vocal cord vibrations caused by the lighter gas, but it does not have a lasting effect on your voice. The effect wears off as the helium is exhaled and your normal voice will return.


How does helium affect your voice?

Helium temporarily changes the timbre of your voice by causing the vocal cords to vibrate faster due to its low density. As a result, your voice sounds higher pitched when speaking in a helium-filled environment.


Why does inhaling helium increase voice pitch?

Inhaling helium changes the resonance frequency of the vocal tract, making sound waves travel faster. This increased speed causes the voice pitch to rise, making the voice sound higher.


What happens when you inhale helium?

When you inhale helium, your voice may sound higher-pitched because helium is less dense than the air in your lungs, causing the speed of sound to increase. However, inhaling too much helium can be dangerous as it can displace oxygen in your lungs, leading to difficulty breathing and potentially harmful side effects. It is not recommended to inhale helium for fun or as a prank.


Does helium make your voice high?

Yes, inhaling helium temporarily changes the frequency of your voice by altering its acoustic properties, resulting in a higher pitch. This happens because helium is less dense than air, causing sound waves to travel faster through it and altering the resonance frequencies in your vocal cords.

Related questions

Is helium found in common materials?

yes! balloons! they make your voice squeak.. hehehe


How do you squeak your voice while using the webcam?

Did You Try Settings And Then Squeak My Voice And Pick How Much Squeakyness You Want


How many balloons do you have to pop and breathe in the helium for your voice to stay the way it sounds for ever?

You breathe helium out pretty quickly when you inhale it. In order for the effect to last the rest of your life, you'd need to breathe enough helium to be able to breathe it out for the rest of your life. Unless "the rest of your life" is measured in seconds (a minute or two at the most), this is impossible. If you asphyxiate yourself with helium, your voice will sound the same way forever (i.e. silent, since you'll be dead). I'm not certain how many balloons that would take, precisely, since it depends on the volume of the balloons.


Why does helium change your voice?

Because Helium is lighter than the oxygen and other gases we breathe, when it passes through your vocal chords, it makes them vibrate quicker than the heavier gases like Oxygen-(8) and such. So because they cause your vocal chords to vibrate quicker, it tightens up your vocal chords and makes the pitch of your voice go up.


What does helium do if you breathe it in?

from what i know about helium; it is lighter than air or the oxygen we breathe so it sits higher in your lungs. Therefore when you exhale it passes through your vocal cords faster which is why your voice is a higher pitch. If you breathe too much Helium in you will become light headed because you aren't getting the oxygen your cells need. An example of a different gas is xenon which is denser and heavier than air. Therefore when you breathe it in it sits at the bottom of your lungs and takes longer to pass through your vocal cords and makes your voice much deeper. It's pretty interesting however xenon is very expensive.


Can something breathe helium?

It depends on what you mean. We can breathe helium without any ill effects as long as we get enough oxygen. However, nothing could breathe and use helium as we breathe and use oxygen because helium is inert. Unlike oxygen, which is highly reactive, helium does not participate in chemical reactions, so it could not serve an organism any purpose.


Why does your voice changes after you drink helium?

When you inhale helium, it changes the speed at which sound waves travel through your vocal cords, resulting in a higher-pitched voice. Helium is less dense than air, so the vibrations in your vocal cords occur at a faster rate, producing the squeaky, high-pitched sound.


How is helium used by humans?

they can breathe it in


How is hellium used?

to make your voice squeak and blow up balloons


Why does helium make you talk different?

helium is less dense than the normal air we breathe, so when you breathe helium out and your vocal chords vibrate, it comes out in a higher pitch tone.


Name a reason why someones voice might be funny?

family feud answers puberty helium accent just woke drunk illness


What will happen when i breathe helium?

you will talk squeaky