I wish to boil some water on the Moon. At what temperature will the kettle boil?

Question

I have a party arriving next Tuesday, and need some technical advice on brewing tea on the Moon.

At what temperature will the water boil, and what ratio of tea leaves to water will be required?

Answer 1

people don't drink tea on the moon. Try coffee. Cheese fondue is said to be very popular though, given the abundance of free cheese on the lunar surface.

Answer 2

Water boils at 100oC. dosesnt matter where it boils

Answer 3

You haven't got any electricity unless you can use the rocket boosters, you'll have a hard time starting a fire how about some iced tea.

Answer 4

Silly, with no atmospheric pressure the water will boil off at any temperature.

Answer 5

If there is still water for you to boil with no atmospheric pressure.

Answer 6

Answer 1 is wrong. water boils at 100 degrees c only at sea level.

as you go up a mountain the pressure reduces and water boils at a lower temperature. In space it explodes

Answer 7

Well, assuming you are in a a shelter as you would not be able to boil water on the surface, it would depend on what air pressure you had in your habitat.

Water boils at 212 degrees at a normal sea-level air pressure. As you get higher (less air pressure) it boils at a lower temperature.

So if you had normal sea-level pressure, you would need 212 degrees to make your tea. If you had a lower pressure, it would boil at a lower temperature and if you had a higher pressure it would boil at a higher temperature.

It takes energy to boil water so at a lower air pressure there is less force on the water and it takes less energy to make it boil. Just the opposite for a higher air pressure.

Answer 8

It will boil away almost instantly as there is no atmosphere.

Answer 9

It will boil at the boiling point of water, which is constant at 100 degrees C.

Answer 10

When a liquid enters a vacuum

... it explodes.

Now this isn't the explosion that most people think of, the kind that is in Rambo, but an explosion nonetheless. The liquid immediately bursts into gaseous form and then begins to form an equilibrium between its vapor and liquid form. (In a pure vacuum, there would probably be a lot more gas than liquid at equilibrium)

The simplest way to see this occurence is the following:

1. Fill a long tube, closed at only one end, with mercury.

2. While holding the open end shut, place the open end into a bath of mercury.

3. You have now basically formed a barometer... and barometers have a vacuum in the top space above the mercury level.

4. Now is the tricky part... Have a dropper or something like that filled with water.

5. Stick the dropper into the mercury bath under the tube's opening.

6. Squeeze out the water.

7. The water, being less dense than mercury, will float up the tube towards the vacuum. When the water meets with the vacuum (not a pure vacuum, but then again, a pure vacuum can't really exist) it will explode into it.

Answer 11

Considering that the moon has no atmosphere you may struggle to reach a temperature anywhere near the liquid phase of water let alone boiling.

Answer 12

In the lowered atmosphere, it will become boiling hot, but not show bubbles. The moon, as far as I know is not a perfect vac--so it won't explode just evaporate.  

Answer 13

six and a bit farengrade or centrehight or there abouts. you will need 2 lbs of tea to a cup of water a glass and a half of milk, 2lbs of sugar and a bottle of rum for flavour. One might even be tempted to consume some jammy dodgers, but caution, dunking on the moon is not the same as good old Blighty, they tend to break up quickly.

Answer 14

You need an extension lead first.

Answer 15

Your headline question asks about the temperature at which the kettle will boil. I think it depends what material your kettle is made of. An aluminium kettle will boil long before a porcelain one does.

Answer 16

I think some of these people have just insulted your intelligence shall I take them outside and ........