How long is too long when making long straws for drinking soda? We need to know how a straw works. When you drink from a straw, you remove some of the molecules from inside the straw. This creates a pressure difference between the inside of the straw and the outside of the straw that results in the liquid being pushed up the straw. The pushing is done by molecules in the atmosphere—primarily nitrogen and oxygen. • Can You Answer This? If we had the perfect straw material and there were perfect seals between the straws, how long could the straw be? Even if the extended straw had perfect seals and rigid walls, and even if there were a perfect vacuum (the absence of all air), a straw longer than about 10.3 m (34 ft.) would not work.
Why?