How+does+a+drinking+straw+work?+Part+1

Contributed by: Mallory G. Date of Creation: 9/30/11
 * HOW DOES A STRAW WORK?**

A straw is a small tube used to bring the liquid from the cup to the person by sucking. When you suck on a straw, the liquid comes into your mouth like a vacuum is sucking it up. The circular shape of the straw makes it strong enough to go through hard objects. When you want to drink your drink, you suck up the air and the air sitting on top of the drink pushes it up. A straw works because of air pressure. Without air pressure, the drink not be able to go up the straw because nothing would be pushing it. An ordinary straw is made of plastic and is often different colors. Human power helps the straw suck in drinks. If you suck on the straw and there is an object blocking the other side, it will trap air in the middle so you will not be able to suck air out of the straw.



//Figure 1: How to use a straw// Plastic straws aren’t recyclable and most of the time ends up in landfills or the ocean where animals could choke on it. Some types of reusable straws are bamboo, steel, glass, and bio plastic straws. Plastic straws are not reusable.
 * Reusable Straws **

The first straw was made in 1888 by Marvin C. Stone, and was made of actual straw. There are over 13 different types of straws. The straw was originally made for drinking beer. The first bendy straw was made in 1937.
 * History of the Straw **

The good thing about the straw is that it reduces tooth decay. The drink isn’t touching your teeth as much as it would if you didn’t use a straw. An ordinary straw is strong from one end to the other but it is weak if you put pressure on the middle. // Figure 2: Straw in a lemon-lime drink //
 * Straw Uses **

Plastic-A thing that lots of objects are made of.
 * GLOSSARY **

Vacuum-An item that sucks things in which is attached to bag and sucks up dirt and dust off the ground. Small non-liquid messes can be sucked up into a vacuum.

Pressure-The exertion of force upon a surface by an object.

Kahan, Peter. (Motion, Forces, and Energy). Upper Saddle River: Prentice-Hall Inc., 2000. Print.
 * CITATIONS **

Newton. “Ask a Scientist.” Newton, 1991. Web. September 20, 2011.

Snyder, Carl H. (The Extraordinary Chemistry of Ordinary Things). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1998. Print.

Wikipedia. “Drinking Straws.” Wikipedia, August 25, 2011. Web. September 20, 2011.

Dictionary.com. “Define Pressure.” Dictionary.com, 2011. Web. September 22, 2011.

"vacuum." Compton's by Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2011. Web. 23 Sept. 2011.

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