Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
Water rises in a very thin tube by capillary action, . Find the height in a tube of radius . Use , and . Could this alone lift water to the top of a 30 m tree?
Xylem carries water and minerals up, and is mostly dead cells. Phloem carries food up and down, in living sieve tubes with companion cells. Capillary rise: .
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Step 1. The radius. .
Step 2. The top and the bottom. . For the bottom, .
Step 3. The height. .
Step 4. The tree. No: is far less than . Transpiration from the leaves is the main pull.
Answer: ; not enough on its own.
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