What Happens When You Inhale Helium?

Ever wonder how magicians and other performing artists make their voice sound squeaky like Mickey Mouse? They breathe in a gas from a balloon and it distorts their voice, making them sound like some long lost chipmunk siblings of Alvin. What does this balloon gas do? Strictly speaking, the gas doesn’t have to come from a balloon, rather it just has to be a specific gas. Any guesses as to what it is? Helium!

Helium is a colorless, odorless, non toxic, inert noble gas that serves various purposes besides changing our voices. In order to understand how inhaling helium can make sound like squeaky humanized mice, we first need to know how we sound our voices normally.

Mechanism of Voice Box

The voice we have is unique to each and everyone of us and it’s influenced by a lot of factors like the air we breath and the shape of our mouth organs namely tongue, nasal passage, lips etc. all contributing to the making of our voices. The sounds we make begin from the voice box which is a part of our respiratory system. Our voice box contains curtain-like structures called on the ends of which the vocal cords are located. These folded membranes with the vocal cords vibrate when air passes through them which then resonates through our throats, nasal passages, mouth, tongue and lips to articulate our thoughts in the form of voices.

Effect of Helium on our Voice

Now, the air that is usually inhaled by us is rich in oxygen and nitrogen and this is what makes our voices sound normal. Helium, however, has a lower density than both these gases present in the regular air. This property of low density is also what enables floaty balloons to, well, float!

Due to the low density of Helium, our sounds pass through the vocal cords thrice as faster than it does when inhaling normal air which results in those characteristic comical noises that we find highly amusing!

What inhaling helium does is that it changes the tone of our voice and not the pitch, which is controlled by the frequency of vibrations. When passed through helium the vibrations leading to the production of voice travels faster i.e. the sound waves speed up, but the frequency of the waves remain the same. Which means waves with low wavelengths get so stretched out that our voice boxes can’t amplify or resonate them, but sound vibrations with higher wavelengths get stretched out perfectly well and are amplified by the voice box, thereby resulting in the squeaky voice! This effect only lasts as long as the helium is near our vocal cords, after which our voice instantly goes back to normal.

Precautions to be followed

• Having understood the working of helium on our voices, it is also important to keep in mind that we must not expose ourselves to helium for a prolonged period since the gas prevents oxygen flow to the brain and might result in light-headedness!
• Since helium is stored in pressurized tanks, it is very important that helium should not directly be inhaled from them as this can result in immediate asphyxiation or even an embolism due to the entrapment within the blood vessels.
• Feeling a bit fuzzy after inhaling helium? Wait it out for a while and if you don’t feel better, visit the nearest hospital or clinic.
• It is also important to note that people with health conditions must undoubtedly avoid such activities since it may pose a potential threat to their well being.
• Children too are advised to stay away from this activity as they are prone to choking hazards from the balloon.

Now that you know the science behind this activity, find a helium filled balloon and surprise some friends and family all the while maintaining caution, taking precautions and knowing the method behind this little gimmick!