Question

A substance has a sea level boiling point of 78°C. You take the substance about 3,000 meters up a mountain and heat it in a pot. What would be the most likely boiling point for this substance at that elevation: 68°C, 78°C, 95°C, or 100°C? Explain.

Answer 1

Answer:

68 °C.

Explanation:

Hello.

In this case, since the relationship between the altitude and the boiling point is inversely proportional due to fact that the higher the altitude the lower the atmospheric pressure and therefore the lower the boiling point (temperature) and the lower the altitude the higher the atmospheric pressure and therefore the higher the boiling point. This is supported by the fact that at lower atmospheric pressures, more liquid molecules are likely to become gas since a weaker force is holding them together in liquid state and the other way around.

Therefore, the most likely boiling point at 3,000 m up a mountain will be below 78 °C, it means 68 °C.

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