What is the purpose of an adam's apple?

Question

Does it serve some kind of function? like enable the voice to go deeper?

I just don't get why men have them and women don't?

Answer 1

women do, there just not as noticeable

:)

Answer 2

i think tht the bigger it is the deeper u talk. women hav them they r just a lot smaller

Answer 3

to make the voice deeper  

Answer 4

There are 2 ways of identifying drag queens.

1. Feel between their legs.  (This poses the risk of being handbagged).

2. Check out the Adam's Apple. (Much safer).

THAT'S the reason mens Adam's Apples are bigger.

Answer 5

The laryngeal prominence is usually more prominent in adult men than in women or prepubescent girls or boys. Note that the growth of the larynx itself during puberty is responsible for the vocal instability in teenage boys. The laryngeal prominence is merely the protrusion one sees of the thyroid cartilage making up the body of the larynx. The laryngeal prominence is usually more prominent in adult males because the thyroid cartilage elongates during puberty, protruding out the front of the neck more noticeably. The result is that the two laminae (thin cartilage) of the thyroid cartilage that form the protrusion meet at an angle of 90° in males, and 120° in females, so there is less cartilage protruding out in females.

A prominent laryngeal prominence is commonly considered a male secondary s*x characteristic.

Answer 6

it's just there

Answer 7

women have then as well they are just not as prominent.  

Answer 8

I'm pretty sure that it is the thing that makes your voice deeper...

Answer 9

When you go through puberty, your vocal chords become more massive.  Because it takes more air to move your vocal chords - to cause a vibration - the sound wave has a longer period, hence a deeper voice.  If you cut the sound wave in half, the sound goes up an octave...like if you put your finger on the middle of a violin string, it's an octave higher...with vocal chords, it's not a matter of cutting the chord in half, or elongating it by twice it's length, but producing a deeper sound by adding mass to the vocal chords and making them more difficult to vibrate.

The adam's apple, on the other hand, extends your vocal tract, producing an effect more similar to the violin.  The longer the sounds has to travel, the lower the voice.

Other than lowering your voice, I don't think it has any functional applications.  It probably has something to do with mating and s*x determining in the prehistoric ages.  Some sort of evolutionary remnant.

Women do have them, they're just not as prominent.  Women's voices do change from childhood->adolescence->adulthood, but not as much.  Little boys can usually be distinguished without looking at them, because they mimic the way most adult men speak, though without lowering their voices much.