What is actually happening in your body when you breathe in helium that changes your voice?
In: 42
Consider [this wind up fish toy](https://i.etsystatic.com/6336119/r/il/2096dd/1921616348/il_794xN.1921616348_gpwh.jpg). If you wind it up and drop it into a bowl of water, it’ll paddle it’s little fin around at a certain speed.
Now imagine instead of water you drop the same wind up fish into a bowl of something more viscus, like syrup. The fin paddles at a slower speed than in water because it’s harder to push the syrup back and forth. That’s kind of like how vocal cords act [when people take a breath of sulfur hexafluoride](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG7gstXCt1A). It causes the vocal cords to vibrate slower. slower vibration = lower pitch.
Helium is like the opposite of that. It’s like when you take the fish out of the water bowl and let it’s fin paddle in the air. Because air is easier to move around than water the fin paddles faster. Helium is less dense than regular air. Vibrating vocal cords move back and forth faster through it due to the lower resistance, creating a higher pitch.
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