Why does helium raise the pitch of your voice, and why does nitrous oxide lower it?
In: Chemistry
Everyone here who says “it because it makes your vocal cords vibrate faster” is absolutely incorrect.
The vibration frequency of your vocal cords is determined by their length, not the speed of sound in the gas.
What the gassed do is change the resonant frequency of the sinuses and vocal tract. This changes the timbre of your voice, not the actual pitch.
Your vocal chords vibrate faster as lighter gases like helium pass over them which results in higher pitch. Denser gasses slow the vibration, limiting the pitch.
Who told you nitrous oxide lowers the voice? Sodium hexafluoride gas lowers the pitch of one’s voice. If nitrous does that, which I have never heard of before this minute, it would be for the exact same reason. Are you sure you meant to say nitrous oxide?
Nitrous oxide? You mean sulfur hexafluoride?
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