Boiling The boiling point of water is 100 °C or 212 °F but is lower with the decreased atmospheric pressure found at higher altitudes. Boiling water is used as a method of making it potable by killing microbes that may be present. The sensitivity of different micro-organisms to heat varies, but if water is held at 70 °C (158 °F) for ten minutes, many organisms are killed, but some are more resistant to heat and require one minute at the boiling point of water. Boiling is also used in cooking. Foods suitable for boiling include vegetables, starchy foods such as rice,
Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water point of VSMOW water is slightly less, about 99.974 °C. This boiling–point difference of 16.1 millikelvins between the Celsius scale's original definition and the current one (based on absolute zero and the triple point) has little practical meaning in real life because water's boiling point is highly sensitive to variations in barometric pressure. For example, an altitude change of only 28 cm (11 in) causes water's boiling point to change by one millikelvin. Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water (VSMOW) is a water standard defining the isotopic composition of fresh water. It was promulgated by the