NationStates Jolt Archive

Helium is an interesting gas because it is lighter than air. It allows balloons to float, and when inhaled, its low density can turn even a baritone into a falsetto.

Enter sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), a breathable gas six times heavier than air. Because of its high density, it has the opposite effect as helium, and is arguably more amusing.

When inhaled, SF6 drops the human voice several octaves, meaning that anyone can sound like the announcer guy from the movies. More interestingly, its relative weightiness makes it behave more like a liquid than a gas. It can be stored in open jars and "poured" into other containers, and if a very light material such as paper or foil is placed on it, it will "float" on the surface of the gas. Impressive, considering that SH6 is completely transparent.

To see this remarkable gas in action, click here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9ifZlu6YKk&eurl).

Now, how to get my hands on some... :p

Pfft...I sang bass in choir, I don't need that shit. :cool:

They should call it: Barry White Gas. :)

Hmmm...wonder if my science teacher has any..

Just make sure to make a handstand after you're done having fun with a low voice.

The stuff, because it is heavier than air, will sit in the lower parts of your lungs and won't come out unless you do...

Awesome. Where can I steal it from?

Pfft...I sang bass in choir, I don't need that shit. :cool:

Maybe not, but think how profundo you could be with it!

Pfft...I sang bass in choir, I don't need that shit. :cool:

If you breathed it, your voice would drop so low nobody could hear you. You'd probably be able to destroy buildings by shouting at them, though. :D

Maybe not, but think how profundo you could be with it!

I'm profundo enough on my own, thanks. :D

If you breathed it, your voice would drop so low nobody could hear you. You'd probably be able to destroy buildings by shouting at them, though. :D

Really??

*starts plotting*

:p

Pfft...I sang bass in choir, I don't need that shit. :cool:

Maybe you could speak in infrasonic.

Awesome. Where can I steal it from?

Steal it? All you need is some sulfur, available at most home and garden stores, and some fluorine gas ... no, wait, isn't that what they use to etch glass? Okay, maybe you do need to steal it.

Just make sure to make a handstand after you're done having fun with a low voice.

The stuff, because it is heavier than air, will sit in the lower parts of your lungs and won't come out unless you do...

Wiki says that's a myth, and I believe them, I think your lungs could push that out...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur_hexafluoride#Applications
A myth exists that SF6 is too heavy for the lungs to expel unassisted, and that after inhaling SF6, it is necessary to bend over completely at the waist to allow the excess gas to "spill" out of the body. In fact, the lungs mix gases very effectively and rapidly, such that SF6 would be purged from the lungs within a breath or two.[4] In general, dense, odourless gases in confined areas present the hazard of suffocation.

C02 is also heavier than air and can be poured like water. It's not that unusual.

Wiki says that's a myth, and I believe them, I think your lungs could push that out...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur_hexafluoride#Applications
And the German wiki recommends what I said.

As does the German Association for Industrial Gases (Industriegaseverband).

It says that SF6 doesn't mix with other gases and thus increases the chances of assimilating too much CO2. http://www.studip.uni-goettingen.de/pictures/smile/nixweiss.gif

Helium is an interesting gas because it is lighter than air. It allows balloons to float, and when inhaled, its low density can turn even a baritone into a falsetto.

Enter sulphur hexafluoride (SH6), a breathable gas six times heavier than air. Because of its high density, it has the opposite effect as helium, and is arguably more amusing.

When inhaled, SH6 drops the human voice several octaves, meaning that anyone can sound like the announcer guy from the movies. More interestingly, its relative weightiness makes it behave more like a liquid than a gas. It can be stored in open jars and "poured" into other containers, and if a very light material such as paper or foil is placed on it, it will "float" on the surface of the gas. Impressive, considering that SH6 is completely transparent.

To see this remarkable gas in action, click here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9ifZlu6YKk&eurl).

Now, how to get my hands on some... :p

Now, what do you get if you mix that with helium?

And its SF6, not SH6, I think thats just a typo though.

(although messing around with it a few times shouldn't hurt anything).

Yeah, that's what Bill Clinton thought about Monica, and look where that led. :eek:

SF6 is also one of the most potent greenhouse gases in existence and is potentially carcinogenic given long-term exposure (although messing around with it a few times shouldn't hurt anything).

Now, what do you get if you mix that with helium?

And its SF6, not SH6, I think thats just a typo though.

i don't think you can mix it, the helium would flow on top of the SF6.

i don't think you can mix it, the helium would flow on top of the SF6.
Just imagine what would happen if you filled a room half with SF6 and half with He.

Small people would talk with a very low voice while tall people would get the squeaky one... :D:D:D

Just imagine what would happen if you filled a room half with SF6 and half with He.

Small people would talk with a very low voice while tall people would get the squeaky one... :D:D:D

You, sir, are an evil genius. My hat is off to you. Your membership packet from Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow will be arriving shortly. :D

And its SF6, not SH6, I think thats just a typo though.
Yeah, you're right... *hasn't taken chemistry in almost three years*

You, sir, are an evil genius. My hat is off to you. Your membership packet from Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow will be arriving shortly. :D
Thank you! *raises pinky to corner of the mouth and chuckles*

I could say that there's been this history of gas-filled rooms - but that would take it a little too far, I fear... That's why I will not mention it!

excellent... i want some! :D


really thick smoke from our old hookah water pipe would make your voice sound kinda like that too. ah, many a stoned, slow, deep sounding conversation we did have :)
Wait, dude... what?

:p

excellent... i want some! :D


really thick smoke from our old hookah water pipe would make your voice sound kinda like that too. ah, many a stoned, slow, deep sounding conversation we did have :)

Wait, dude... what?

:p

i think you mean "wwwaaaaaaaiiiiiiiit.... duuuuuuuudde............... whhhaaaaaaaaaaaaatttttt?"


only deeper and.... funnier (it was funny in my head!! :() :p

Just imagine what would happen if you filled a room half with SF6 and half with He.

Small people would talk with a very low voice while tall people would get the squeaky one... :D:D:D

Brilliant! Or if you got the levels just right, your voice would change when you stood up or sat down.

i think you mean "wwwaaaaaaaiiiiiiiit.... duuuuuuuudde............... whhhaaaaaaaaaaaaatttttt?"


only deeper and.... funnier (it was funny in my head!! :() :p
I gotcha, PM! And the way you spelled it is the way it sounded in my head... ;)
Brilliant! Or if you got the levels just right, your voice would change when you stood up or sat down.
Woah, I didn't even think about that one. Fantastic!

Or, three layers: You lie down and your voice becomes really low, you sit up, everything's okay. You get up... Micky Mouse!

Hilarity ensues!

I gotcha, PM! And the way you spelled it is the way it sounded in my head... ;)

Woah, I didn't even think about that one. Fantastic!

Or, three layers: You lie down and your voice becomes really low, you sit up, everything's okay. You get up... Micky Mouse!

Hilarity ensues!

Yeah, we'd best have that middle layer or no one'll be saying anything after a while, with no oxygen in the room.

Yeah, we'd best have that middle layer or no one'll be saying anything after a while, with no oxygen in the room.
I realized that mistake after I posted the idea - and then simply ignored it. :D

I realized that mistake after I posted the idea - and then simply ignored it. :D

See? This is what makes you an evil genius! :D

See? This is what makes you an evil genius! :D
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y223/GermanNightmare/dr_evil.jpg

Oops. :D

Neato.

Just imagine what would happen if you filled a room half with SF6 and half with He.

Small people would talk with a very low voice while tall people would get the squeaky one... :D:D:D

Then they'd all suffocate and de......

A big meh. (http://rapidshare.com/files/19505338/voicemanipulation.mp3.html)