1. You put some potatoes in a big pot of cold water with the lid not too tightly
ID: 40393 • Letter: 1
Question
1. You put some potatoes in a big pot of cold water with the lid not too tightly closed. Which of the following methods to cook the potatoes would use the least amount of energy? Explain your reasoning.
a) Put the heat on full force. But when the water boils, turn the heat way down so that the water just keeps boiling. b) Turn the heat on full force, and keep it there. c) Turn the heat on very low. But when the water boils, turn the heat way up so that the water keeps boiling. d) Turn the heat on very low, and keep it there. e) Put the heat at some medium value.
Explanation / Answer
e) Put the heat at some medium value.
Water can absorb heat quickly and release heat quickly. In this case, if we put the heat at high flame, after reaching its boiling point water cannot heatup further but it evaporates thus, wasting energy. If we put at low flame, the heat necessary to reach the boiling point takes too mch time and some of the heat will be lost to the environment meanwhile so that potatoes cannot be cooked. If we put the heat at medium flame, water kepps boiling throughout the cooking peroid and we can cook potatoes with least amount of energy.
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