If you inhale helium would your voice really sound high-pitched when you talk?

Question

If so, why does it do that to your voice?

Also, is it dangerous to inhale helium for this purpose?

Answer 1

Helium will make your voice sound high pitched. This is what was used in the movie "The Wizard Of Oz" to make the munchkins have sqeaky voices.

And you are right to ask if it is dangerous to breath. Humans need Oxygen to live. If you breath in pure Helium, it will not support life. The way it was done in making the film "Wizard of Oz", they made a mixture of helium and oxygen in the same proportion as Air which is mostly Nitrogen and Oxygen. That way the vocal chords were exposed to the helium and gave them sqeaking voices, but their lungs still recieved the same amount of oxygen.

Don't inhale a helium balloon unless you have the paramedics standing by.

Answer 2

When you speak, the sound is transmitted by vibrating the particles in the air until it reaches the ear. Once there its turned into the noises we've come to understand. Hence why sound doesnt travel in a vacuum, there is nothing there to carry the vibrations.

When you inhale helium and speak, the vibrations become faster, and thus higher pitched since helium's density is lower than air. If you took in denser than air chemicals, the vibrations would be slower and would sound lower.

For safety, helium, being less dense then air, can escape your lungs easily. So inhaling a party balloon to raise your voice for a few seconds won't cause any permanent harm. However extended breathing of helium would be bad since you would not get sufficient oxygen in your body, and would asphyxiate. The denser gases, which in most cases are only available in science labs, are much more dangerous and should NEVER be done for a multitude of factors, all of which would lead to serious side effects or death.

Answer 3

Helium is an inert gas, which means it cannot combine with anything, just like Neon, Krypton, Argon, and so forth.

Because of this, it is used as a substitute for the 78% Nitrogen mixture (that is common in our air) for deep-sea divers. That is why when you hear deep-sea divers on a National Geographic show talking to their ship on the surface, their voices sound like Micky Mouse.

It causes the vocal chords to shrink from lack of Nirtogen. As long as you have a mixture of 20% oxygen, you can breathe it for a long period of time and prevent "Nitrogen Narcosis" when you come back up to the surface after a deep dive.

You can inhale Helium from a carnival baloon, hold your breath for a few seconds, then exhale, and your voice will be high for about 10-15 seconds without any damage to you. Just don't do it for a long period of time because you will die from a lack of Oxygen. Take a puff, then tell your friends how it went!

Answer 4

Yes helium does make your voice sound high pitched. What is more fun is nitrous oxide which does the opposite and makes your voice deeper. Both are not dangerous if you simply do them once in a while, but tons of research suggest that nitrous oxide is harmful to brain cells. Not much research has gone into helium use.

Answer 5

Yes, as a matter of fact, it does but depending on how much you inhale is how long the high-pitched voice will last. But it usually doesn't last over like 1 min. And by the way it is not good for you something about the gas kills brain cells.

Answer 6

A little helium doesn't hurt, I do it all the time, whenever I can get hold of a free balloon. Lots of fun at malls.

I don't think nitrous will make your voice that much lower. I know SF6 (sulfer hexaflouride) will, but because it is heavier than air, you have to stand on your head for a few seconds to get it out of your lungs. It will make you sound like Barry White.

I saw the science guy do it on the Letterman show.

Buh Bye

Answer 7

Yes, it sounds high pitched. It is lighter than normal air, effecting your voice. It's not really dangerous because you pass out from lack of oxygen if you try to do too much for too long. Not really dangerous, just kind of stupid. But fun.

Answer 8

Dangerous, some. foolish, lots. you're ingesting a chemical into your lungs which is not supposed to be there. the gas, helium has an anesthesia quality which alters the normal response of the vocal chords, i.e. you sound like Alvin, Simon & Theodore...:)

Answer 9

no duh dick tracy, and it does it because helium is lighter than air so in return it cause your voice to be at a higher pitch, and if you do it just a little i dont think its that dangerous, but i have heard stories about ppl doin it 2 much and their lungs collapsed

Answer 10

Yes, your voice would be high-pitched. No, it is not dangerous.