# If you inhale something heavier than air, does your voice get deeper? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 18, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174 "2005-12-18T15:52:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174/1 "2005-12-18T15:52:59Z")
You inhale helium and your voice gets higher. Would the opposite work? I’ve never seen anyone try it. ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174/2 "2005-12-18T16:06:33Z")
I was once with some friends who were inhaling butane to get a buzz (I wasn’t stupid enough to try it myself, nor would I recommend it). Their voices got deeper. I remember something happening to one guy just as he inhaled it (I don’t remember what the particular incident was), I asked him if he was all right; he responded in a very deep voice, “YES!”, like it was the voice of god or something. Afterwards, I remember telling them to get themselves in an upside down position and breathe for a while, because I was afraid that otherwise the butane in their lungs might not get exhaled. They didn’t seem to suffer any permanent damage (again, not that I would recommend this. I’ve tried a number of things, but inhaling butane isn’t on my list of things I’m willing to risk trying). ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174/3 "2005-12-18T16:44:36Z")
I guess I should add that while I do know butane is denser than air and makes your voice deeper, I don’t know for a fact that the density actually causes the deep voice, nor do I know if any arbitrary denser gas would make your voice deeper, as well. I’m curious about this myself. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174/4 "2005-12-18T17:00:08Z")
Its a common science demonstration to do this. I’ve seen it at least 5-6 times. Sulfur hexafluoride is the dense gas of choice I believe. Yes they usually invert themselves afterwards to get the gas out of their lungs. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174/5 "2005-12-18T17:19:27Z")
> [@Cabbage](#): > > I guess I should add that while I do know butane is denser than air and makes your voice deeper, I don’t know for a fact that the density actually causes the deep voice, nor do I know if any arbitrary denser gas would make your voice deeper, as well. I’m curious about this myself. The pitch is exactly dependent on the speed of sound through the gas. Since the speed of sound through an ideal gas is given by SQRT ((gamma \* R \* T) / M), where gamma is the adibiatic constant, R is the gas constant, T is the absolute temperature and M is the molecular mass, you can see by inspection that smaller values of M will give a higher sound velocity and therefore a higher pitch, all other values remaining equal. Since M is roughly correlated to density, the relationship of pitch to density is pretty consistent. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174/6 "2005-12-18T17:42:52Z")
At hyperphysics: [Sound Speed in Gases](http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/sound/souspe3.html) ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174/7 "2005-12-18T18:32:16Z")
At a movie theater where I once worked, they had cans of Freon that they used to freeze gum so that it could be chipped out of carpet and the like. This stuff was so fun to play with in many ways. One way was to inhale some of it and talk. As described, your voice becomes suddenly lower, as if you are listening to a 45 record played at 33 (a comparison that is rapidly losing its utility). I don’t know how many brain cells we killed each time we played this game, however. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174/8 "2005-12-18T19:47:38Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > The pitch is exactly dependent on the speed of sound through the gas. What is the relationship between the frequency and the speed of sound in the medium? Is it linear? Just as a matter of interest, would that mean that the pitch of a note played on a musical instrument (a wind instrument, such as a recorder) would depend on the density of the air on a particular day and at a particular location? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174/9 "2005-12-18T20:49:52Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > What is the relationship between the frequency and the speed of sound in the medium? Is it linear? Yes, if you double the speed of sound, the pitch will double as well. > [@hibernicus](#): > > Just as a matter of interest, would that mean that the pitch of a note played on a musical instrument (a wind instrument, such as a recorder) would depend on the density of the air on a particular day and at a particular location? It depends on whether the instrument’s fundamental frequency is dependent upon resonance in a column of air, such as in an organ pipe, saxophone or a flute, among many others. Instruments which are dependent upon a vibrating surface, such as a guitar, are not affected by atmospheric conditions, except to the extent that subtle tonal variations in air spaces are affected. These air spaces act as filters, which can suppress or enhance certain frequencies, affecting the overall tonal quality. The fundamental remains constant, however. The human voice, much like a woodwind, also relies on a vibrating surface ( the vocal cords or a reed, respectively) to make sound, but in this case, the fundamental is affected, because the resonant frequency of the system is affected by the resonant frequency of the column of air in which it vibrates, due to feedback effects. I probably didn’t explain that as clearly as I might have, but there is some good information to be found [here](http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/guitar/intro_engl.html) and [here](http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/demobook/chapter3.htm). ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174/10 "2005-12-18T20:55:08Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > Its a common science demonstration to do this. I’ve seen it at least 5-6 times. Sulfur hexafluoride is the dense gas of choice I believe. Yes they usually invert themselves afterwards to get the gas out of their lungs. I’ve never seen it done with any gas, but xenon would probably be my gas of choice. The idea of inhaling SF6 just kinda scares me. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174/11 "2005-12-18T20:57:44Z")
So, **Q.E.D.** , what would my bagpipes sound like if I played them in a hermetic chamber filled with helium? (I’d need breathing gear, obvioulsly.) Chipmunk bagpipes? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174/12 "2005-12-18T21:18:28Z")
> [@Northern Piper](#): > > So, **Q.E.D.** , what would my bagpipes sound like if I played them in a hermetic chamber filled with helium? (I’d need breathing gear, obvioulsly.) Chipmunk bagpipes? Yep. I’m not terribly familiar with bagpipe acoustics, but I believe the fundamental is primarily dependent upon air resonance in the pipes, no? Is there a reed? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174/13 "2005-12-18T21:31:20Z")
yes- each of the three drones has a reed, but the volume and pitch comes from the tube of air in the drone. You tune them by extending or shortening each drone a wee bit. I can see it now: The Marching Alvin Pipes & Drums! ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174/14 "2005-12-19T01:18:45Z")
> [@Northern Piper](#): > > yes- each of the three drones has a reed, but the volume and pitch comes from the tube of air in the drone. You tune them by extending or shortening each drone a wee bit. > > I can see it now: The Marching Alvin Pipes & Drums! Nah, just record it at half-tempo then double the speed for the CD. I think that’s how you do it. And I thought bagpipes and snare drums were already highly-pitched enough. ---
**Author:** ![Quotidian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/82dd89/32.png) [@Quotidian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quotidian)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174/15 "2005-12-19T01:54:37Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > > [@hibernicus](#): > > > > Just as a matter of interest, would that mean that the pitch of a note played on a musical instrument (a wind instrument, such as a recorder) would depend on the density of the air on a particular day and at a particular location? > > It depends on whether the instrument’s fundamental frequency is dependent upon resonance in a column of air, such as in an organ pipe, saxophone or a flute, among many others. Actually, if we assume that the composition of the air is the same (along with the temperature), the answer is “no”. The speed of sound in an ideal gas is independent of its pressure. It is not density that matters, but molecular weight (molecules of different gasses have the same kinetic energies at any given temperature; for heavier molecules, this corresponds to lower speeds). Real gasses deviate from ideality, but the deviation could go in either direction. Temperature will affect the speed of sound since molecular speeds are higher at higher temperatures. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174/16 "2005-12-19T02:12:57Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > . . .Freon. . .was so fun to play with in many ways. One way was to inhale some of it and talk. Not recommended. I don’t know how toxic it might be but if it _freezes_ gum, it can freeze your mouth, your lungs, etc. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174/17 "2005-12-19T02:29:21Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > I’ve never seen it done with any gas, but xenon would probably be my gas of choice. The idea of inhaling SF6 just kinda scares me. Actually, xenon is the first gas that jumped to mind at the thread title. And, after googling around a bit, I’m guessing it was [in the Straight Dope itslef](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mheliumsqueak.html) I read this little tidbit. > [@](#): > > I have heard reports of wacky chemistry professors (how’s that for redundant?) inhaling balloons full of xenon gas. Because pure xenon is much denser than air, the speed of sound through xenon is slower, and inhaling xenon lowers the resonant frequencies of your vocal tract. Some web sites recommend wearing a cowboy hat while speaking in a “xenon voice” for maximum comedic effect. Yee ha. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174/18 "2005-12-19T03:26:03Z")
BTW, it’s funny how the conversation turned, since I was inspired to post this question by a segment on Brainiac, where they had kids play woodwind instruments after inhaling helium. (The note was decidely higher.) ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174/19 "2005-12-19T03:34:32Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > At a movie theater where I once worked, they had cans of Freon that they used to freeze gum so that it could be chipped out of carpet and the like. This stuff was so fun to play with in many ways. One way was to inhale some of it and talk. As described, your voice becomes suddenly lower, as if you are listening to a 45 record played at 33 (a comparison that is rapidly losing its utility). I don’t know how many brain cells we killed each time we played this game, however. I know someone who died by freezing their lungs doing this. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174/20 "2005-12-19T05:49:18Z")
_ **Butane and Freon?!?** _ Jeez, are you people nuts? In my misspent youth I was partial to whippets (nitrous oxide) for a time. It definitely made your voice lower though not as dramatically as helium made it higher. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-inhale-something-heavier-than-air-does-your-voice-get-deeper/336174.md?page=2)