Why vegetable oil has higher boiling point than water?
The simplest reason is that oil molecules are very heavy. Boiling happens when a molecule’s speed is high enough to overcome gravity and the inter-molecular bonds of the liquid. The more more mass a molecule is the more energy it requires to reach that speed. In fact, water molecules are quite light, and other molecules of that weight have their boiling point well below room temperature. It’s only because water has hydrogen bonds between molecules that its boiling point is as high as it is. In addition, oils stick to themselves better than water does. That’s why oil is so thick and viscous. Oil molecules are made of long chains of atoms. These chains of atoms wrap around each other and prevent each other from escaping. That makes oils more viscous. In fact, some oils (like coconut oil) are so viscous that they’re actually solid at room temperature.
