Question

A hiker tries to prepare a hard-boiled egg on the high slopes of Mount Everest. The base camp is located 5,300 meters above sea level. The hiker observes that the water begins to boil at 82⁰C, much lower than the 100⁰C needed to cook the raw egg. He hopes that just leaving the egg in the boiling water longer will let the egg cook. Will he have hard-boiled eggs for breakfast?

Answer 1

The hiker will not have hard-boiled eggs for breakfast because the boiling point of water at high altitudes is lower than at sea level.

Step-by-step explanation:

Due to the lower boiling point of water at high altitudes, the hiker will not be able to achieve hard-boiled eggs by leaving the egg in boiling water longer. The boiling point of water decreases as altitude increases, so at the base camp of Mount Everest where the altitude is 5,300 meters, the boiling point of water is lower than at sea level. Therefore, the water will not reach the temperature necessary to cook the egg to a hard-boiled consistency.