Where will water not boil?

Answer 1

Water will boil anywhere it just needs to be hot enough.

As we all know water boils at 100 C but you also need to add into this equation the air pressure at which the experiment is taking place, generally when we boil a kettle we are never too far away from sea level.

But here's the thing if we were to climb Everest the air pressure would be considerabley less therefore to counter this more energy would be needed to counter for this therefore the boiling point would rise.

Therefore thinking this through if you were in the vacuum of space were the pressure is zero you may need an infinite amount of energy in order to boil the water.

Answer 2

As someone else said, the boiling point of water is lower as pressure is reduced, which is why mechanics pull a vacuum on a car's air conditioning system prior to re-filling with refrigerant. It has nothing to do with getting more refrigerant in the system, it's to convert any moisture that may have condensed within the system to a vapor and remove it. Essentially, they introduce a vacuum and as the pressure drops, the boiling point of the water in the system also drops. When the boiling point reaches the temperature of the system, it will start to boil and convert to a vapor, which is sucked away.

On the other hand, if pressure is increased, the boiling point of water is also increased. Again, a car is an excellent example. Inside a car's radiator, you have a mixture of water and either ethelyne glycol or polypropolene glycol. This mixture will normally boil at a temperature of about 225deg. F at normal atmospheric pressure. But, when that pressure is increased to 16lbs, as is common with a radiator cap, the boiling point increases to over 260 deg. F Beware though, a sudden reduction of pressure at that temperature will cause the entire contents to convert to vapor at an explosive rate (In other words, take the cap off of a hot car and it will blow out all over you!!)

Theroretically, there is a point where a substance can change directly from one state to another without boiling. This is called it's critical stage. Water, if under enough pressure, can convert directly from a liquid state (not boiling) to a vapor state (steam) without boiling. Such pressures could be found deep within the Earth's crust, under massive rock formations. Or, in a labratory.

Answer 3

Water will boil anywhere - it is the temperature at which it boils that changes. This is affected by pressure.
The lower the pressure the LOWER the boiling point (NOT the other way around)
They say you can't make a cup of tea (or coffee) on Everest. This is true - but not because you can't boil the water. It is because at that pressure, the boiling point is about 70 degrees C, and the water won't be hot enough get the flavour out of the tea/coffee.

Answer 4

Water will not boil upon heating anywhere that the pressure is higher than the pressure of the critical point (about 220 atmospheres for pure water). Obviously such high pressure doesn't occur on the surface of the earth naturally. you have to go down a kilometer or so inside the earth (and not be connected to the atmosphere like in a mine, but completely squished by the rock) before this point is reached for pure water, and lower still for salty waters.

Answer 5

Water under pressure can get hotter than 100deg without boiling, as in a car radiator. If after a run-out you have to take the screw cap off DO NOT LOOK INTO IT. It boils belatedly and can shoot up into your face. The water will be hotter than 100deg. You might hear it start to bubble. It might be the last thing you see.

Answer 6

There are undersea volcanic vents spewing out high temp gas which heat the water. At depths over 7000 water is heated to 400C (well beyond the critical point of water) BUT DOESN'T boil due to the water pressure.

Answer 7

In an air-tight jar where there is no room for anything other than water. How could it expand? The jar would burst first.

Answer 8

In a kettle with a missing fuse.

Answer 9

anywhere it doesn't reach 100 degrees

Answer 10

In a fridge.