FLU - Drinking Through a Straw Discussion

When people drink through straws it is common to describe the process as "sucking" the liquid up, through the straw. However, in physics, "sucking" is a poor term that doesn't come close to describing how the liquid moves up the straw and into your mouth.

• Describe how a fluid moves up a straw.
• Explain a time when you were unable to "suck" something up a straw.  What was the problem and how could it have been corrected.
• Is there a limit to how high something can be "sucked?"  Find a specific example where engineers have overcome this problem.  Explain what they did.