Why boil vegetables in salted water

We often boil vegetables in salted water (the concentration of table salt is usually in the range 0.01-0.05 mol dm-3). The salt makes the food taste nicer, although we should wash off any excess salt water if we wish to maintain a healthy blood pressure. 

But salted water boils at a higher temperature than does pure water, so the food cooks more quickly. (We saw on p. 203 how a hotter temperature promotes faster cooking.) The salt causes an elevation of boiling point, which is another colligative property. We call the determination of such an elevation ebullioscopy. 

The word ebullioscopy comes from the Latin (e)bulirre, meaning bubbles or bubbly.  

In a related way, we say that someone is ebullient if they have a bubbly personality. 

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