A drinking straw has exactly one hole, according to mathematical and topological reasoning. Topologically, a straw is equivalent to a cylinder formed by the product of a circle and an interval. The circle itself has one hole (like a ring), and the interval (representing the length of the straw) has no holes. Therefore, the straw inherits the single hole from the circle, making it a one-hole object
. The common misconception that a straw has two holes arises from counting the two open ends as separate holes. However, openings are not the same as holes in topology. The hole is the continuous hollow space running through the straw, which is one single hole, not two
. In summary:
- A straw is topologically like a ring stretched out into a tube.
- It has one continuous hole running through it.
- The two ends are openings, not separate holes.
Hence, the scientifically and mathematically correct answer is that a straw has one hole
