Re: Donald Duck & He

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From: rob lee (rjl@netdex.com)
Date: Fri Dec 01 2000 - 07:06:25 PST 

Message-ID: <3A27BE70.2020@netdex.com>
Date: Fri, 01 Dec 2000 07:06:25 -0800
From: rob lee <rjl@netdex.com>
Subject: Re: Donald Duck & He

I think there is a different explanation for this question:

********
Question 2: Why haven't your students asked why a voice gets "Donald
Ducky"
when helium is inhaled?

Same answer as with the helium balloon. Helium's mass is less than the
mass
of air we normally inhale. Hence, it is less dense.

When exhaling helium (speech) passes over the vocal cords, the cords
encounter a less dense gas and vibrate at a higher frequency.
*********

I should probably leave this to Dr. Paul ("It's more complicated than
that."), but it seems to me that there is an alternative explanation for
this phenomenom. The natural frequency of vibration for you vocal cords
is not changed by the He, rather the medium in your resonant chambers,
(sinuses, throat, mouth, et. al.) is now helium with a much faster speed
of sound. Since the frequencies are the same with a faster speed of
sound, the wavelengths change causing different resonant frequencies to
be emitted.

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