I stumbled upon these videos thanks to CGP Grey who hosts
wonderful and interesting videos about society in general. I
highly suggest watching them. The following two videos tackle
the question of how trees “drink” water. We all know from grade
school that trees drink water through their roots. What you
might not know is that, thanks to physics, there is a limit to
how far water can be sucked upwards through a tube, thanks to
gravity and pressure, which is about 10 meters, or around 32
feet. If you’re curious about the science of this limitation,
there is a video here by the same guy. The math is explained at
the end. However that is all just background. Over the following
two videos, Veritasium is going to take you through the
scientific process of discovering how trees drink water, and how
trees over thirty two feet manage to get water all the way to
their top most leaves. It is well worth watching: