How Many Holes Does A Straw Have?

That's a tunnel, not a hole. a Tunnel has two openings, each opening is a hole. two holes.

I did
it said two holes

 

An opening is not a hole. A hole has an opening, but they're not the same thing. A tunnel is a hole, usually in a mountain.

Let's get specific.

"hole
hōl/
noun

1. 1.
   a hollow place in a solid body or surface."

A straw is entirely hollow, or essentially a cylinder with a large hollow place. There is only one hollow area in a straw, not two. I think the confusion here is that you're associating openings with holes, which just isn't true.

 

A. if you want to get specific, your definition never specifies if it goes through a solid body; it's just in one, hence why 'tunnel' isn't listed as a synonym, when 'cavity' and 'trench' are. And notably, the definition also lists 'opening' as a synonym of hole. And generally, people use 'hole' to either describe something with one opening (digging a hole in the ground) or to describe cases where the hole's size is equal to or more than the hole's deepness or the amount of material around it (sock holes, donut holes). Otherwise, people tend to call it a tunnel or tube, and either entrance as a hole.
B. If you want to get more technical, Straws are formed around a mold; the holes aren't going through the straw itself; the straw is going around empty space.
C. If you plug one of the holes in a straw, one still remains. if you plug the other hole, one hole still remains. hence, it must have two holes.
D. you don't call a shirt a 'hole', you say it has shirt holes
In any case, the straw either has two holes, if you look at it practically, or no holes, scientifically.

 

it’s says one I have screenshots

 

1. Correct. A hole doesn't need to go through something. As for opening being a synonym for hole; yes, it is similar. A synonym doesn't necessarily mean the exact same thing. For example, "flower" is listed as a synonym for plant, but not all plants are flowers.
2. The material of the straw does indeed have no holes. However, since a straw requires the cylindrical (or close enough to it) shape to be a straw (a straw cut and flattened is no longer a straw, because it no longer fulfills the same purpose), the hole is included in what we call a "Straw."
3. That's just poor logic. If, and only if, you put a wall of some sort somewhere in the straw, but not at either of the ends, will a straw have two holes. If you plug one end, it's one hole with a bottom. If you plug the other, it's still the same hole, with a different bottom. If you plug neither, it's a hole that goes through something. It's one continuous hole, there's nothing separating the two openings, so there's no separation to create two holes.

 

so do I

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A. while synonym doesn't need to mean the exact same thing, it still needs to be similar. for example, flower is a subset of plant, and the majority of plants do form some kind of flower. also, tunnel lists hole as a synonym. in other words, holes are a subset of tunnels, while tunnels aren't a subset of holes. the only way this could be true is if there's a distinguishing factor that makes them different. This factor is one of two things; the length of the tube, or the number of openings. in any case, this would mean a hole isn't a tunnel, and a straw would have two holes.
B. if the straw's purpose is to transport liquid, than a simple bend in the material that makes straw is enough to let it transfer liquid efficiently. if it needs to transfer it against the flow of gravity, then it just needs two bends to accomplish that.
C. you're just proving my point; as a hole is just the opening to the straw, the only way for there to be one is if you completely block one of the holes. otherwise, there will always be two, regardless of the circumstances inside. for example, if you took a straw and bent it in a way that made it pinch, then it'd have two holes. the only difference would be the shape of the object; it could still transfer liquid into your mount, it's still largely cylindrical, etc. thus, a normal straw would have two holes as well.

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also, you missed some stuff

 

1. Yes, opening and hole are similar. Tunnels and holes are also similar, but while I don't believe there's any official statement on it, tunnels would logically be a subset of tunnels, because tunnels are more specific than holes. Length has no effect. A tunnel is a type of hole that goes through something, and is typically underground. I don't know how tunnels even became a part of this argument, since they're irrelevant.
2. The purpose of a straw is a tool that allows you to suck a liquid from a container. A flat piece of paper (or the material the straw is made of) doesn't accomplish this, and still doesn't until it's a straw.
3. The hole isn't just the opening to the straw. The opening to the straw is the opening to the straw. Unless you bend it to the point where the edges fuse together, it doesn't have two holes. Both sides need to be completely separate for there to be two holes, and in doing so it can no longer be a functioning straw. A modified straw that can be easily proven to have two holes is not the same as a normal straw. A dissimilar straw with 2 holes proves nothing. A straw has one hole that goes the whole way through. There's no separation. It has two opening for one hole.

4. completely irrelevant
5. Topologically it has no holes. Practically, it has one. One hole with two openings. This is the key part. The two openings do not give it two holes. It's two opening to the same hole. A separation would be required for there to be two holes. There is no separation.

 

1. They became a part of this because that's what a straw has one of; they have a tunnel, of which holes are a similar but different thing.
2. Except that you can use pretty much anything to suck liquid up a container, as long as it has a sufficient way to make a pressure difference.
3.

Except that's EXACTLY what a hole is. And if a straw can still practically function, then it is a straw, which means it has two holes. The bent straw, speaking from experience, can still work, is made by the same process, and is made with the same shape.
4. It's not though; a shirt is the perfect analog. Four holes in it, with a hollow center that connects them. It's made similarly to a straw, with the structure being built around the holes. and, more importantly, you don't say a shirt has one hole. plumbing is another example; each house has multiple holes (sinks, toilets, shower stalls), connected to a tunnel. you wouldn't call a plumbing system one hole.
5. Topologically, it has one. Practically, it has two, connected by a tunnel. Separation isn't a factor, as I showed with the bent straw as an example.

 

1. A tunnel is literally a more specific kind of hole. And by most definitions it has nothing to do with a straw, because by most definitions a tunnel is something like this:

What you don't seem to realize is that a tunnel is just the name for a certain kind of hole.
2. Which a flat piece of paper doesn't.
3. This is becoming a repetition of you refusing to accept that a hole and an opening are not the same thing.

Green is the opening (there's a second one on the side we can't see), blue is the hole.
Now, let's add some partitions/walls, in yellow.

Block off one end, there's still one hole.

Bend it, and the hole remains connected until the sides of straw are so connected that they fuse together and liquid (or anything, really) can pass through, making it no longer a straw.

Place something in the straw that fully separates one side from another (not physically possible so imagine that it's part of the straw itself), and now you have two holes. Funnily enough, this straw also doesn't function like a straw should, and isn't really a straw at all. The point here is that the blue always remains in one connected piece, unless you separate it. There's only one blue section, until separated by the yellow. This is repetitive too, but it's the only thing left.

4. The number of holes in a shirt is arguable, and an entirely different subject, and, as it has different number of openings, it's not correlated closely enough to a straw to be worth anything. As for all of the things you say you "wouldn't call one hole," that's entirely arguable, and also irrelevant. The argument is how many holes a straw has, not anything else. A plumbing system can easily be called one hole.
5. And now we come to the point where this entire argument is based entirely on a simple difference in vocabulary, and we actually agree. You say a straw has two holes, connected by a tunnel, whereas I say it has two openings, connected by a hole. This entire argument has had nothing to do with straws the whole time, just semantics.

but your "Bent straw" a) is entirely wrong and b) was never shown in any way or used to give any actual proof


let me put it in real life terms; a donut has one hole. Stretch a donut to make it taller. Now, you have a straw shape. Has anything changed in regards to the hole? No.

 

1.Tunnels are like rectangles; holes are like squares. All holes are tunnels but not every tunnel is a hole. a tunnel is a general term for something that has two sides; a hole is how one enters and exits the tunnel.
2. Fair enough
3. A hole and an opening are generally the same thing, and you can still use the blocked straw as a straw, just not as effiiciently.
4. It's not a different subject; it's the exact same question, just with a different example. or, more accurately, it's an example of a wider question that has to be answered first, which is what a hole is. and by that definition, and the digestive system example, and the plumbing example, a hole is an opening in an object, and the connection is called a tunnel or tract or whatever, depending on is a connection of two or more holes through said object. And by that, a straw has two holes. And while it's technically arguable, generally, most people tend to just call them holes. also, if you poke a hole in a straw, how many holes does it have now?
5. In order to answer the straws problem, you need to solve what a hole is. and by 4, a hole is a gap in an object. although the definition of a straw isn't as relevant, you were the one who brought that up, not me. also, the entire question is worded in a way that encourages semantics. "hole" is generally loosely defined, and differs by person. A much better question is "how many entrances does a straw have" or "how many tubes are in a straw", as both generally have stricter definitions.

 

1. The problem we have here is that absolutely nowhere do I see a tunnel being defined as anything close to what you're claiming. I think you've switched tunnel and some other word in your vocabulary, because by no definition is it "something that has two sides." None that I can find, anyway.
3. See this is what I mean. What you consider a hole, I would call the opening that leads to a hole. To me, a hole has an opening (or multiple), but is not one. I think my pictures from earlier are useful here; what I've highlighted in green is what you call a hole, whereas to me the green is simply connected to the blue, which is the main body of the hole.
4. It's the same question, applied to a different object, meaning lessons learned from it don't necessarily apply. "Is it blue?" changes depending on the object, so does "How many holes does it have?" albeit in different ways. Only if you consider the openings on either side to be holes does a straw have two of them. Otherwise they are part of the larger hole. And if you poke a hole in a straw, mathematically it would have two holes, but practically it would just be one hole with three openings. Imagine you dig one hole in the ground. A few meters to the left, you dig another hole and a little while down you connect it to the first hole. It's now one hole in the ground, with two openings in it.
5. That's what I've been trying do to. Your idea of a hole is my idea of an opening. When you say "two holes with one tunnel," you mean the same thing as when I say "two openings with one hole," but since the question is "how many holes," you say two and I say one. In other words, I think we're actually agreed on how a straw is comprised, just differing on what means what.


so the end result is we've both wasted too much time on a stupid question designed to create arguments

 

No, not again, I'm not strong enough

 

yay, semantics
reminds me of this http://smbc-comics.com/comic/hey-kid

 

7 ¼ holes im pretty sure

 

It has 2. The diagram a few messages above means absolutely nothing, because you would get the exact same image should you flip the straw over. If there is a hole on both sides, and the image is the same when flipped over, the straw has to have 2 holes

 

You're basically saying if there are two holes there are two holes, nice.