Why does water take less time to boil at higher elevation?

Question

I get there’s less and less air pressure the closer you get to sea level, and therefore it requires less energy for water to boil, but how does air pressure correlate to energy? I have a tendency to think about things at the molecular level, and can’t seem to work this one out in my head.

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

The pressure is higher at sea level, lower at higher altitudes. Water boils at a lower temperature at higher altitudes, so it takes less time on the stove to get to that lower temperature, compared to a higher temperature if you were closer to sea level.