egg on mountain?

Question

at the top of a mountain an egg is heated in boiling water for four minutes and is found to be uncooked. explain why

Answer 1

The boiling point of water is dependent on the atmospheric pressure above the water.
A liquid will begin to boil when its vapor pressure equals the pressure above the liquid. At a given temperature, the liquid will have a certain vapor pressure. As temperature rises, so does its vapor pressure. The temperature of the water, when heated, will continue to rise until its vapor pressure equals the atmospheric pressure above the water. At lower atmospheric pressures, water will boil at a lower temperature.

By “at the top of a mountain” we can assume that the atmospheric pressure above the water that is being boiled lower than the “Standard” pressure most boiling points are measured in (which is 1 atmosphere (atm) of pressure, 101.3 kPa). Since the pressure is lower above the water, the water will boil at a lower temperature.
Once the water begins to boil, any increase in the power supplied to the water (heat, which is a form of energy, per unit time) to the water will not result in an increase in temperate, but rather an increase in the rate at which the water vaporizes (boils away).

So the boiling water will be at a lower temperature than what the “4 minute egg” recipe calls for, thus it will take longer for the egg to cook.

Short answer to your question would be:
The water is boiling at a lower temperature due to the lower air pressure, thus causing the egg to take longer than 4 minutes to cook.

Answer 2

Water boils when the internal pressure of the water matches the external atmospheric pressure. At sea level this occurs at 100C. At higher elevations, the pressure of the water needs to change much less for the water to escape its liquid form, thus it needs to be heated much less in order to boil. Once water starts boiling it will no longer increase in temperature. Because the water boils at a cooler temperature at the top of the mountain it takes MUCH longer to cook the egg.

Answer 3

Water boils at a lower temperature at higher altitudes (because of the lower vapor pressure). Your egg isn't boiling
at a hot enough temperature to cook.