• Question: When you suck all the hellium out of a balloon why does your voice go all sqeeky

    Asked by zoecragg to Emma on 21 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Emma Ross

      Emma Ross answered on 21 Jun 2013:


      Good question zoecragg! I think its something to do with the fact that helium is less dense than normal air, and so sound travels more quickly through helium. If you inhale helium, the speed of sound travelling through your vocal cords is sped up, and that makes your voice sounds high and squeaky, just like if you speed up a video and everyone’s voices on it go high pitch!

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