[blade2251]

what is the effect of helium on the human body... lets say if a person was to like ummm... well digest helium... what would be the major and minor effects be... would they still get the high voice or what?

[jdurg]

Well, helium is a noble gas with the lowest melting point of any substance in existance.  If one were to ingest solid helium, they would probably cease to exist due to the severe cold they were experiencing.  Helium does not form any compounds, so the only way that someone would ingest helium would be in the form of a gas.  The gas is much less dense than air, so their vocal cords vibrate a heck of a lot faster as the He is expelled causing their voice to be much, much higher.  The dangers with ingestion of helium is simply asphyxiation caused by the displacement of oxygen.  There are no chemical reactions which occur in the body, and as soon as the helium has escaped normal respiration begins once more.  So in all actuality, inhaling helium gas really isn't a danger.  It's just when people forget that they need oxygen to live that the problems occur.

[Mitch]

 :uhuh:

[blade2251]

ok so if someone was to like... i dont know... swallow helium like they do carbonization from sodas... would they get the high pitched voice then

[Corvettaholic]

I think you can swallow helium just as easily as you can swallow plain ol air from the atmosphere. If you ingest helium in any other state than a gas, you will die. Fairly painfully I'd imagine. And you mean carbonation from soda? The bubbly stuff. Its just gas... I'm fairly sure about that anyway.

[vulcan2.0]

it would be kinda cool if u could put helium in soda pop

[Corvettaholic]

Thats a neat idea... but I don't see how it would alter your voice. I mean, you can't really speak while chugging soda, and the effects of huffing helium don't last too long. Also, how would you get the helium in there in the first place?

[vulcan2.0]

Think about it. When they put CO2 in soda the CO2 escapes causing you to burp and I think the same thing would happen with helium. As for getting helium inside it I'd think youd have to use it as a liquid.Acually u could probably use a gas it but would be alot harder. If I had the stuff I would try. Unfortunately I do not.  

[movies]

I don't know that you could get any significant amount of helium to dissolve in soda to make the bubbles.

CO₂ can react with water to make carbonic acid though, so it can stay in the soda for a while provided there is sufficient pressure (I think the use about 5 atm) and the soda is cold (at higher T most of the CO₂ is gas and then just escapes as soon as the can is opened).

As jdurg said, He doesn't really react with anything so there wouldn't be anything to keep it in the solution.

[jdurg]

A lot of carbonation stays in the soda because under pressure, the carbonic acid is moderately stable.  As soon as the bottle/can is opened, the carbonic acid decomposes into carbon dioxide and water.  Also, helium doesn't dissolve all too well in water.  That is why it is used in deep sea diving tanks.  It doesn't dissolve all too readily in blood, which is mostly water, so as the diver decompresses bubbles won't form in their bloodstream.