Scribd
Upload
2 views

4. Relative Humidity

Uploaded by

eagwarada
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
2 views

4. Relative Humidity

Uploaded by

eagwarada
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Humidity

Air absorbs water through the process of evaporation which results in water changing
from its liquid state to its gaseous state. The gaseous state is called water vapour. The
amount of water vapour in the air is called humidity. The humidity of the air depends
upon the temperature. If the temperature rises, then the air can hold more water
vapour. If the temperature falls the air cannot hold as much water vapour. When air
cannot hold more vapour, it is said to be saturated.
The actual amount of water vapour at a particular time is called absolute humidity. The
relative humidity is the ratio between the actual amount of water vapour present and
the total amount of water the air can hold at a given temperature for example if the
temperature of a mass of air is 30ºC and its relative humidity is 75% then it could hold
25% of water vapour at the same temperature before it became saturated. When the
relative humidity is high, the air is moist, and the highest relative humidity occurs in
the dry season.
Changes in the humidity may result in precipitation. Sometimes the temperature of
the air falling causing the relative humidity to be saturated. If temperatures continue to
fall then some of the water vapour condenses causing tiny water droplets to form either
cloud, mist, fog, or dew.
Measuring humidity

Humidity is measured using a hygrometer/ wet and dry bulb thermometer.


A hygrometer consists of two ordinary thermometers, one is the dry-bulb thermometer
and the other the wet-bulb thermometer. The hygrometer is stored in a Stevenson
Screen.

Dry bulb
Wet bulb
thermometer
thermometer

muslin
• One bulb is wrapped in thin muslin with a wick which dips into a small bath
containing water thereby keeping the bulb constantly moist. This thermometer
is known as the wet-bulb thermometer.
• The other thermometer has no muslin and is known as the dry bulb
thermometer.
• As the air temperature increases water evaporates from the muslin and cools
the bulb of the thermometer causing the mercury to contract. The dry bulb is
not affected in the same way. The two thermometers, therefore, show different
readings.
• The difference between the reading is used to calculate relative humidity
using a set of tables.
The Relative Humidity Table

If the readings of the two thermometers are the same, the air is saturated. If the
difference is small, humidity is high and if the difference in the readings is high it means
humidity is low
Calculating Relative Humidity

The exact relative humidity is measured by working out the difference between the wet
and dry thermometer and then using a table that looks at the difference between the
wet bulb and the dry bulb temperatures. The table will then tell you the humidity as a
percentage (%)
Example
Calculate relative humidity using the hygrometer and a table shown above.
To calculate relative humidity using the table above you need:
1. Dry bulb thermometer reading
2. Wet bulb thermometer
3. Depression of the wet bulb (Dry bulb – Wet bulb).

Dry bulb = 28°C

Wet bulb= 25°C

Depression of the wet bulb

28- 25= 3°C

Using the relative humidity table, the Relative Humidity is 76%

Activity
With an aid of an example above, calculate relative humidity using the information
below.

°C

dry bulb thermometer reading

wet bulb thermometer reading

depression of the wet bulb thermometer


Using the table above state the relative humidity………………………………

You might also like