Why does food cook faster in a pressure cooker?
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Pressure cooker is a brilliant application of pressure-boiling point relationship. Option A is wrong — microwave radiation is used by microwave ovens not pressure cookers. Pressure cookers use conventional stove heating with steam pressure. At standard pressure (1 atm) water boils at 100°C. This raises the boiling point to about 120-125°C. At this higher temperature food cooks 2-3 times faster because chemical reactions (protein denaturation starch gelatinization) in food occur much faster at higher temperatures. Option C is wrong — reducing boiling point makes water boil at LOWER temperature which would slow cooking. Everest water boils at ~70°C) making cooking slower. Option D is wrong — steam is not a chemical catalyst. Steam transfers heat efficiently but plays no catalytic role.
FAQ
Common questions and clear answers for this topic.
Heat is a form of energy that transfers between objects or systems due to a temperature difference, moving from a hotter body to a cooler one until thermal equilibrium is reached.