As well as supplying the body with oxygen, breathing is also essential for another job; making sounds using the voice. Humans are social beings, so communicating with those around us is very important. We use our voices to deliver information or express our feelings through talking, laughing, or even singing.
How speaking works
As air is breathed out, it passes through the voice box (larynx), below the back of the tongue. Stretched across the larynx are two flexible membranes called the vocal cords. When we want to speak, muscles pull the vocal cords closer together. Air pushes through the small gap, making the cords vibrate to produce a sound. This sound is shaped into a series of words by moving the mouth, lips, and tongue into different positions.
High and low pitch
People’s voices have different tones and pitches. Men tend to have deeper voices, as their vocal cords are long and thick, producing a lower sound. Women have higher-pitched voices, and children’s are the highest of all, because their vocal cords are much shorter.
Range of the human voice
We measure pitch in hertz (Hz), which describes how fast the vocal cords vibrate per sound (frequency).
Picture Credit : Google
