Confused on boiling/Pressure concept~~

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johnwandering

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I know that as you travel higher and the atmospheric pressure drops, liquids boil faster (higher vapor pressure, so it has a lower boiling point)

But I don't understand a few things about this....
For example, why does an egg take LONGER to cook in higher altitudes?
Also, Why does water boil MUCH faster in deep water where pressure is immense??
????????

Is there some kind of gas to liquid disparity that I don't know about??

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Water boils more easily at higher altitude because you have less pressure. More easily means lower temperature. The egg does not cook more easily at lower pressure - the temperature/heat transferred is what matters. So you must have the egg in that boiling water (which is at a lower temperature than at sea level) for a longer time.

I'm not sure what example you're talking about for the deep water boiling.
 
An egg takes over 18 minutes to cook at very high altitudes, while it only takes maybe 3 minutes in regular atmospheric pressure~


When divers were submerged to the depths of the challenger (pretty much the deepest anyone has ever been with an INSANE amount of pressure), they couldn't leave their lights on for very long because it would VIOLENTLY boil the water~


I understand the egg thing now, but the water thing is getting to me now~~
 
An egg takes over 18 minutes to cook at very high altitudes, while it only takes maybe 3 minutes in regular atmospheric pressure~


When divers were submerged to the depths of the challenger (pretty much the deepest anyone has ever been with an INSANE amount of pressure), they couldn't leave their lights on for very long because it would VIOLENTLY boil the water~


I understand the egg thing now, but the water thing is getting to me now~~

dude, i've honestly never heard about the deep water thing. i'm pretty sure even thermal vents (which get really freaking hot) don't even boil in deep waters because of the ridiculous pressure. do you have a link?
 
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I would be wary about stating higher vapour pressure being the factor causing lower boiling point. It is true that something with a lower boiling point does indeed have a lower vapour pressure at that boil point, but increase in atmospheric pressure don't change the vapour pressure directly. What happens is just that higher atmospheric pressure means you don't need as much vapour pressure in order to equal that atmospheric pressure, which means you boil at a lower temp.

This was a question in one of the TBR passages and I fell for it.
 
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