The melting point of plastic is 300+ degrees Fahrenheit. Even if you tried to drink tea that was still boiling in the cup you’d damage your mouth pretty good but the plastic straw wouldn’t melt.
This isn’t exactly true. Plastic is all different types of things and there is no one melting point, for example PLA (poly lactic acid) which is commonly used for things like disposable drink lids has a glass transition temperature of 60c (140f). Abs (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) has a glass transition temperature of 105c (221f).
While the full melting point for these two polymers is higher than the glass transition, at those temps, your straw will start turning into a nice wet noodle.
The melting point isn’t helpful here because it defines the point at which the object turns into liquid, not the point where it deforms or gets damaged.
A drinking straw like that is likely made out of polypropylene with a melting point of 320F. Though the comment I replied to said “melt” specifically, if you wanted to reference the point before it begins to soften, PP has an operating temperature of almost 200F still. So that includes any hot liquid up to the point of near-boiling, which will be a bigger deal to your mouth than the straw. Thats why it’s used in drinking straws and the like.
It turns out plastic can melt. Crazy, I know
The melting point of plastic is 300+ degrees Fahrenheit. Even if you tried to drink tea that was still boiling in the cup you’d damage your mouth pretty good but the plastic straw wouldn’t melt.
This isn’t exactly true. Plastic is all different types of things and there is no one melting point, for example PLA (poly lactic acid) which is commonly used for things like disposable drink lids has a glass transition temperature of 60c (140f). Abs (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) has a glass transition temperature of 105c (221f).
While the full melting point for these two polymers is higher than the glass transition, at those temps, your straw will start turning into a nice wet noodle.
The melting point isn’t helpful here because it defines the point at which the object turns into liquid, not the point where it deforms or gets damaged.
A drinking straw like that is likely made out of polypropylene with a melting point of 320F. Though the comment I replied to said “melt” specifically, if you wanted to reference the point before it begins to soften, PP has an operating temperature of almost 200F still. So that includes any hot liquid up to the point of near-boiling, which will be a bigger deal to your mouth than the straw. Thats why it’s used in drinking straws and the like.