Smart is sexy? lol.
Well, I hope it helps. There is SO much confusion and misinformation out there about stoves.
HJ
Bzzzt! I'm sorry, but thank you for playing:
" Well, think about a pot on the stove that's gently boiling. Then you open up the burner on full, the boil goes wild, and the lid practically jumps off the pot. What's happening here? The higher above the boiling point in terms of temperature, the more vigourous the boil, and the greater the vapor pressure."
Nope: turning up the temperature on the burner does NOT raise the temperature in the pot that is already boiling. It increases the heat input, and therefore the rate of vaporization but without closing the vessel and increasing the ambient pressure, it certainly does NOT increase the temperature of the boiling water. That is already determined by atmospheric pressure plus the weight of the lid and can't be increased by just adding heat.
Try that piece of it again, maybe with a pressure cooker instead of a loose lid.
