Boiling Water?

Question

A couple of weeks ago, I was watching The Food Network. Bobby Flay claimed that a pot of cold water boiled faster than hot water. I don't believe it. Is what he said true?

Answer 1

yes this is true

Answer 2

I had never heard of that before. I had always thought that if I had hot water it was already closer to the boiling point than cold water is. This sounds like a test for Myth Busters.

Wait is the the non alcoholic drink board or the TV board?

Seriously though, I will still have to look into it cuase it just does not seem right. Air or not. At least I want to know how much faster it would be if it is faster.

Answer 3

Yes.

Answer 4

Poor Bobby Flay needs to go back to science class to learn the basic laws of thermodynamics.

Say you start with water cold out of the tap in one pot that comes out at 50 F, and you put hot water out of the tap at 108 F in other pot, then you put them on burners with identical heat output on the highest setting...the one that is already somewhat hot will reach the boiling point of 212 F faster, because it had a head start.  Also heated up molecules move around more quickly so it will heat up more evenly.

Perhaps Bobby Flay was thinking of the Mpemba Effect, which observes that hot water can freeze faster than cold under certain circumstances.

There was actually an episode of h**l's Kitchen (Season 1, Episode 3) where a character slowed her team down because of the "cold water boils faster" misconception.  She was eliminated.

Cold water tastes better when it's freshly boiled though because it is more aerated.

Answer 5

If the pots and fires under them are the same, they are both either covered or uncovered, and the quantity of water is the same, the law of thermodynamics tells us that the warmest water will reach boiling temperature first. We can break many laws, but not the laws of thermodynamics or gravity.

Answer 6

It boils faster because there is still air bubbles in the water.... boiling is rising air bubbles, yes??? You should always start with cold water when boiling anything .... air in the water helps thing taste better!!!

Answer 7

yes, but I don' t know why