What If Helium Replaced Oxygen for 1 Minute?

ah, big birthday party, same five songs on repeat, you go off alone, you look at the gift table and you put some of those chocolate cookies in your pocket and then you stumble upon some cute balloons floating around and since you have no self-control, you grab one and start inhaling that

helium

, everyone else is outside playing pin the tail on the donkey and it's amazing, the first thing you notice is that your voice changes, we've all done it at least once in our lives, your voice becomes super high pitched and it squeaks for a couple of seconds, you have to keep breathing in through the balloon, although it doesn't last long, it's a fun party trick and it's all thanks to

helium

which is much lighter than

oxygen

because helium travels faster to through your vocal cords, making them vibrate faster the faster they vibrate the more you sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks you lean back in a comfortable chair ah, suddenly you realize that everyone has that high-pitched voice also everyone is going crazy you breathe something's up with him air feels different it feels like you are playing with the inside of the balloon, a little bit of helium is not harmful, not when you inhale it through a balloon with almost no pressure, but with a whole atmosphere of helium, your ears start to feel a little weird and sounds like someone is revving a motorcycle inside your head, you need

oxygen

to balance the air pressure inside your ear and since the atmosphere is now full of helium, for some reason your body can't maintain that balance Without that constant level, it feels like you jump from sea level to the top of Everest and on the way back everyone starts running screaming with high-pitched, screeching voices.

It's quite entertaining but also some

what

terrifying. You look at the sky and see a drastic change. You look at your watch and it's still noon, but. The sky is as dark as night, you can still hear people screaming, but now you can't see them. When the sun's rays travel to the earth, they reflect and bounce off different particles in the air, especially oxygen with helium instead of oxygen, you see a lot. less blue and a lot more black the sun suddenly looks like a small dot in the sky and as soon as the sun disappears it gets hotter i didn't expect you to feel like you've just entered a sauna you're sweating all over just by instinct you dive underneath from a tree the sun feels very strong now the oxygen in the ozone layer generally blocks and deflects many ultraviolet rays those are the ones that give you a sweet summer tan without oxygen those rays are falling On the earth it is as if you were a pizza about to cook, you do your best to calm down, but things are getting a little out of control and it's a good thing you left a moment ago because that house you were in is starting to look bad. this type of flimsy concrete needs oxygen to stay together without it you are just looking at a pile of cement, sand and water, helium just isn't enough, you stand up and look at the abandoned water tower that is crumbling, you run away into the darkness trying to make sense of it all, but everyone on the street is as confused as you, the whole block looks like a total mess, many people abandon their cars to seek shelter and there are overturned bikes and random bags everywhere, people just find it.

I leave everything. and run you find a car that doesn't look very damaged and you turn on the ignition nothing, no sound or anything, you try another car, the same thing happens and another one needs oxygen to start a fire, which is basically

what

happens when you start your car and Since helium is not fuel, cars simply do not start, the same happens with the engine of an airplane or a motorcycle, the entire world's transportation system is suddenly useless but there is always muscle power, what about that bicycle? Now you can escape from this nightmare that you find. a good one and you pick it up while pedaling in the dark you can almost hear the ground sputtering you need to find help you take your eyes off the road for a moment you lose your balance and crash into a mailbox you're fine just brush yourself off and get back to pedaling, but your bike and the mailbox now they are as if glued together.

This is too science fiction. You understand that solid metals cannot stick together because of the oxygen in the air they need. It melted and then mixed, but there is no oxygen, no problem, the medals are sticking everywhere. You left your watch near the mailbox, that was a mistake, you have no choice, unbutton it and leave it behind, all that helium is turning you into. dizzy at that moment you feel like the ground is shaking things are going to get worse come on, you ignore it and continue running, but it happens again stronger, this time you look back and see that the ground is opening, that is definitely your cue to run, you dodge everything that comes your way you're usain bolt you're a cheetah this is all definitely your fault somehow you know why you had to inhale that helium balloon so basically the earth's crust needs oxygen to maintain its shape yeah, like if things couldn't get worse, but facts are facts and the fact is that the earth's crust is made of almost fifty percent oxygen.

We are walking on air. People are literally collapsing in front of you. The sky has turned black. How can you breathe right now? There is no oxygen. Out of nowhere a flying plastic electric spaceship appears. Just come with me on this. Remember when I said that everything that runs on fuel needs oxygen. Owning electric vehicles looks pretty good right now. Plus, it's plastic, so it won't work. stuck to mailboxes and stuff you get on and your ears immediately feel more relaxed than before there's something in the air here oxygen wow, did you hold your breath all that time the spaceship takes off and flies up past the clouds you're so high like a plane, then the spaceship slows down and the engine shuts down there's a brief moment where you feel like time just stops and then you start falling back to earth uh-oh, you start gaining speed each time fastest roller coaster speed race car speed sonic jet speed your body shakes When you wake up from your nap, you open your eyes and look around, everyone is looking at you, apparently you just inhaled half the balloons at the party , they say you were yelling something over a mailbox, so helium makes you sound crazy when you inhale it, but what's wrong?

Liquid helium you can't use it to make ice cream or anything, but it has a real purpose. Helium is used to cool large machines that become hot when turned on. Liquid helium is the coldest liquid in the world, colder than liquid nitrogen. Now you're probably going to think twice before attacking those helium balloons again, but that's actually not the only gas that will make your voice funny. Sulfur hexafluoride, helium is much lighter than air, but sulfur hexafluoride is much heavier, which means that if you breathe in for a moment your voice will go very low and you will have a strong, deep voice for a few seconds.

You can also use it to make a sweet magical tic tac video. Step one, take a container and fill it halfway with sulfur hexafluoride, it is heavier. than air, so you can leave the lid off. Step two try putting a paper boat in the container. It will be as if you are floating in the air. No smoke, no mirrors, you can float anything on it, as long as it's light enough, one of those folded papers. birds a flower petal