Why is it that vegetables cook faster when they are chopped up?

* Heat Transfer: Heat is transferred from the cooking source to the vegetable through its surface. When you chop a vegetable, you create many more exposed surfaces, allowing heat to penetrate the vegetable more quickly and evenly.

* Water Evaporation: Chopped vegetables have a higher surface area exposed to the air, leading to faster evaporation of moisture. This speeds up the cooking process as the water content within the vegetable is reduced more rapidly.

* Diffusion: When vegetables are chopped, the nutrients and flavors within the vegetable are more readily exposed to the cooking medium, allowing them to diffuse out faster. This results in a quicker cooking time and better flavor absorption.

In essence, chopping vegetables creates more points of contact for heat, moisture, and flavor exchange, leading to faster and more efficient cooking.