Sulfur hexafluoride: what is it?

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Recently, interest in the chemical sulfur hexafluoride has grown. This was facilitated by entertainment programs on television, among which the most famous are Good Jokes and MythBusters. Many were especially interested in the fact that with the help of this substance you can change the timbre of the voice - it becomes very low. People decided that this is a great idea for parties, competitions and other leisure activities. If there is a demand, there will be offers: it is not difficult to find advertisements for the sale of sulfur hexafluoride on the Internet. But, before you rush to buy this substance, it would be useful to figure out what it is and how safe it is for humans.

Sulfur hexafluoride, also known as SF6, or sulfur hexafluoride, or sulfur hexafluoride, is an inorganic chemical compound. It has been known for more than 100 years and has been successfully used by man for his own purposes for about the same amount. Chemical properties: inert, non-toxic, heavy gas (5 times heavier than air). The substance is absolutely colorless, has high electrical strength and high breakdown voltage. There are two possible ways of its formation - from simplesubstances and during the decomposition of complex sulfur fluorides. Due to its physical and chemical properties, it is used as a dielectric in the electrical industry, as a process medium in the electronics industry, and as an inert medium for producing alloys in metallurgy. Recently, SF6 (short for "electric gas") has been used to extinguish fires as a fire extinguishing agent. These are the main applications of sulfur hexafluoride.

But entertainment television has expanded the scope of this substance and popularized it. The reason for this was his ability to change the human voice: if you inhale sulfur hexafluoride, the voice becomes monstrous,

unnaturally low. I wonder why this is happening? It is often possible to come across the opinion that SF6 acts on the vocal cords, causes their short-term swelling and thus “lowers” the voice. It's not like that at all. The fact is that the vocal cords themselves do not form a loud sound. The human speech apparatus, in addition to ligaments, also includes resonators. One of these resonators is the pharynx. The timbre of the voice is influenced, first of all, by the environment of this resonator. If this medium is air, then we hear an ordinary, familiar voice. But it is worth changing the environment, and we will hear a different, completely alien voice. This is explained by the following principle: the lighter the gas and the faster the movement of its molecules, the higher the voice will be. And vice versa: the heavier the gas, the slower the movement of molecules, the lower the timbre. Helium is lighter than air, so when you inhale this gas, your voice becomessqueaky, very thin. Sulfur hexafluoride, as already mentioned, is 5 times heavier, and if you inhale it, the voice will become rough and low. That's all: such a funny effect of SF6 is explained by a short-term change in the resonator environment. Inhalation of this substance is not capable of harming the body if it does not contain foreign impurities.

If you want to buy sulfur hexafluoride, the price should not be decisive for you. No one argues that this is also important, but he alth is more expensive. Therefore, when purchasing SF6, ask the seller if it is “pure” hexafluoride, whether it contains any other additives. This will protect you and your guests, whom you are going to entertain with SF6 gas, from unexpected and unpleasant surprises.