Try this if you havn't as a child. My question is this, could this be copied on a larger scale utilising powerful vacuums in a pipe large enough for a human to climb up a ladder and into the water hovering above them? Just imagine...
2006-10-18 01:37:32 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
Good for you. Sounds like you just scored some good stuff.
2006-10-18 01:41:53 · answer #1 · answered by wmf936 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Nope. (sorry!) But cool idea. The reason why the water just doesn't run out of the straw is that in an area as small as a straw, the surface tension of water is strong enough to not allow the "bottom" of the water to break. In a much larger scenario though, that would not be the case, and the water would flow out of the giant straw as soon as you lifted the straw above the level of the water. You can try this with just a regular glass. Put it under water, flip it upside down, and then slowly pull it out. As soon as the rim of the glass is above the level of the water in the sink, it empties. Its the same principle.
2006-10-18 08:47:51 · answer #2 · answered by Westward 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Of course it could. You wouldn't need powerful vacuums or a really strong giant's finger if you started with a pipe that was already sealed, or a cup large enough for a person to fit in.
You can do the straw trick with a cup. Submerge it in the water, turn it upside down, and then pull it out. It's quite heavy with all the water in it, but if you don't bring the lip of the cup out of the water, it will stay full. A cup of big enough for a person to fit in and full of water would weigh more than a person, though.
2006-10-18 08:47:24 · answer #3 · answered by C. C 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes you can, but you can only raise the water 30 feet. At this point the pressure above the water is the same as the water vapour pressure and you can't lift it any further. This is why water pumps can't lift water more than 30 feet (Although of course you can push the water further - you can't just suck it).
If you swan into the pipe and up the pipe to the full 30 ft height you would die as the pressure is a near vacuum (I'm not sure what water's vapour pressue is but it's very low)
2006-10-18 09:27:02 · answer #4 · answered by amania_r 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The only reason this works on a small scale is because gravity isn't strong enough to break the surface tension over the small surface area. It wouldn't work with a wide pipe. Gravity would win and the water would still pour out, despite your "vacuums."
2006-10-18 08:46:45 · answer #5 · answered by metatron 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I would say yes. But the problems would be finding a pipe big enough than pumps large enough to draw up the water. And you can always use a air tank.
2006-10-18 08:48:36 · answer #6 · answered by dr.zoomzoom 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Probably, but look a tthe scale, the pipe would have to absolutely huge on the tall scale, and one bubble and all that water may fall out.
Try holding water in a fat straw and stick a toothpick up in it. I bet the water falls out.
2006-10-18 08:41:51 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
if you are wearing an pressurized suit then yes you could but otherwise the air that appears to be in the bottom of the straw is actually empty space and you would sufficate before you ever reached the water
2006-10-18 08:43:55 · answer #8 · answered by Brandon D 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yea, or you can pump the water up into the tube, and maybe put a reservoir on top of it and store the water, then release it to distribute the water at pressure to a community.
Oh wait, that's what a water tower does.
2006-10-18 10:58:52 · answer #9 · answered by Jeffrey S 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gravity wins.
2006-10-18 08:49:48 · answer #10 · answered by wjsst22 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋