how is sucking on a straw to drink pop similar to the way that Savery's steam pumped water from a mine?

Answer 1

Pump create a vacuum that has the effect of sucking water into the pump. The pump then pushes the water somewhere else.

Your mouth does the same thing, it creates a vacuum which allows the water to come to your mouth. Essentially, the atmosphere is pushing on the top of the liquid in the can, and the vacuum allows the atmosphere to push the liquid to your mouth.

A pump (or your mouth) can only draw water in from a maximum of something like 21 feet vertical rise (depending on power and altitude above/below sea level.

A pump can push water to much higher heights.

Answer 2

they each create a vacuum and nature abhors a vacuum so she shoves something in to fill it up and oops there goes your soda out of the bottle/glass and down your throat and out goes the water from the mine to replace the vacuum created by the steam engine.

Answer 3

im not sure but i would imagine it is something about siphon.