Helium and Sulfur Hexafluoride in Musical Instruments

• Autores: Kyle Forinash, L. Dixon Cory
• Localización: The Physics Teacher, ISSN 0031-921X, Vol. 52, Nº. 8, 2014, pág. 470
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The effects of inhaled helium on the human voice were investigated in a recent article in The Physics Teacher .1 As mentioned in that article, demonstrations of the effect are a popular classroom activity. If the number of YouTube videos is any indication, the effects of sulfur hexafluoride on the human voice are equally popular. However, there appears to be little information available on the effects of either of these gases on musical instruments.2 We describe here the results of a student project that involved measuring the frequency shifts in an organ pipe, a trumpet, and a trombone as the result of filling the instruments with these two gases. The project was one of several possible end-of-semester projects required in an elective science of sound course for non-science majors.