How does this work? *picture?

Question

In physics the teacher had this little mechanism type thing where we had to figure how it worked (what was inside)

ok so here's how it looked:

http://i38.tinypic.com/2yl4lmp.jpg

Answer 1

well, the rubber tube cant have water in it, cus the water wouldnt go higher than the glass if the 2 were connected.

But if the container was sealed well enough the weight of water could push air through the rubber tube readily, that pressure might be enough to push water out of the other container.

Answer 2

Maybe as you put water in, it pushes the air out of something in canister one and pushes into something in canister two. As the air fills

canister, it pushes the water out. The air and the water must be isolated from each other. MAYBE.