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Altitude and Pressure
Name: steve
Status: other
Age: 30s
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 2000-2001
Question:
water will not boil in Colorado or maybe Wyoming because of
high altitudes & potato chip bags burst in shipment due to high pressure
in those areas????im a trk/driver & have been told this for years & i
wonder if there is such a place or issue where this is true?????myth / or
fact
Replies:
Not quite sure but water will boil in both of those states, possibly what
you are referring to is the temperature at which it boils, at high altitudes
water will begin to boil at lower temperatures which essentially means you
have to cook things longer due to the atmospheric pressure. For a potato
chip bag to burst I would think you would have to be at a pretty high
elevation but there is no reason why it couldn't happen.
Baldwin
In an area with very high air pressure, usually at a low altitude, it is
more difficult for bubbles to form within the water. The water molecules
are squeezed more tightly together by the air above the water. This is
actually how pressure cookers work. By increasing the pressure, the water
can exist as a liquid even when the temperature is above 212 degrees. In
the high pressure locations, the boiling point of water may be well above
212 degrees. If the stove cannot heat the pot of water much above this
temperature, it may evaporate rather than bubble.
In an area with very low air pressure, usually at a high altitude, bags
packed and sealed at a high pressure may explode. The pressure on the
inside pushes out. The pressure on the outside pushes in. If the bag is
not strong enough to resist the difference in pressure, it will pop open.
An inflated balloon moved from a very high pressure area to a very low
pressure area will grow in size without adding any more air. The low
pressure air squeezes the balloon less, allowing it to grow. As the air
inside the balloon expands, its pressure decreases. When pressures balance,
expansion stops.
Kenneth Mellendorf
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Update: June 2012
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