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

Pressure being “worked against” is lower, less force is needed for the water vapor molecules to “leave” the pot.