Relative Humidity

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Materials per
Team
two thermometers
pieces of cloth or
paper towels
water
string (optional)
wet and dry bulb
Relative Humidity
How Much Water Is in the Air?
S
pill a small amount of water onto a hard surface (spreading
some with a sponge onto the chalkboard works well) or pour it
into a shallow container. Notice how rapidly it evaporates. Discuss
the fate of the water with the studentswhere did it go?
Water commonly exists in three formssolid (ice), liquid, and
gas (vapor). When it transforms from one stage to another, it
undergoes a physical change. The water molecules in our example
changed to a gaseous state by evaporating. The opposite change
from gas to liquid is called condensation.
At different times, atmospheric conditions can cause quicker or
slower evaporation of water. Meteorologists can use a device called
a hygrometer to measure evaporation rates and the resulting value
is called relative humidity. Relative humidity is expressed as a
percentage ratiowhat is the current evaporation rate compared
to the maximum, or saturation, rate for the current temperature?
Stated more simply, how much water is in the air?
At 100% relative humidity, an equal amount of water condenses
as evaporates. The air is in effect full of water, so when more water
evaporates, an equal amount condenses. Think about a night when
fog or mist is in the air.
Conversely, as relative humidity values become lower, there is
a greater difference between evaporation and condensation. The
air has a high capacity to accept evaporated water without having
any condense. Think of a very dry day in the desert when water
dries up quickly. By recording and comparing the difference
between the temperature of a thermometer with a dry bulb and
one with a wet bulb, students can measure relative humidity.
To begin, have each team set up two thermometers. They
should wrap the bulb of one with a cloth or paper towel dipped in
room temperature water. This one is the wet bulb thermometer.
The other will simply measure air temperature, so it will be the dry
bulb thermometer. Have students record the temperatures for a
twenty-minute period or until the wet bulb temperature becomes
chart in this packet

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steady. They should graph both temperatures on the same pad
using different colors.
The wet bulb temperature will be lower because the evaporating
water creates a cooling mechanism. Technically, the waters change
in state requires energy, which it removes from the air in the form
of heat energy.
A large difference between temperatures means lots of
evaporation is occurring around the wet bulb, lowering its
temperature. More water is evaporating than condensing. The
relative humidity is low so the air has lots of capacity to accept
water vapor.
If the difference between the wet bulb and dry bulb
temperatures is small, little evaporation is occurring and relative
humidity is high. The airs capacity for water vapor is small. There
is no room for newly evaporating water unless some vapor that is
already in the air condenses. Use the chart on the next page to help
students convert the temperature data to relative humidity.

Relative Humidity
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All temperatures are shown in degrees Celsius.
Wet and Dry Bulb Table
To determine relative humidity, find the dry bulb temperature on the left and the difference between
that and the wet bulb temperature on the top. Where the row and column meet, read the relative
humidity as a percentage.
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
5 72 58 45 33
6 73 60 48 35
7 74 62 50 38 26
8 75 63 51 40 29 19
9 76 64 53 42 32 22 12
10 77 66 55 44 34 24 15 6
11 78 67 56 46 36 27 18 9
12 78 68 58 48 39 29 21 12 7
13 79 69 59 50 41 32 23 15 10
14 79 70 60 51 42 34 26 18 13
15 80 71 61 53 44 36 27 20 13 6
16 81 71 63 54 46 38 30 23 15 8
17 81 72 64 55 47 40 32 25 18 11
18 82 73 65 57 49 41 34 27 20 14 7
19 82 74 65 58 50 43 36 29 22 16 10
20 83 74 66 59 51 44 37 31 24 18 12 6
21 83 75 67 60 53 46 39 32 26 20 14 9 6
22 83 76 68 61 54 47 40 34 28 22 17 11 8
23 84 76 69 62 55 48 42 36 30 24 19 13 10
24 84 77 69 62 56 49 43 37 31 26 20 15 12 5
25 84 77 70 63 57 50 44 39 33 28 22 17 14 8
26 85 78 71 64 58 51 46 40 34 29 24 19 16 10 5
27 85 78 71 65 58 52 47 41 36 31 26 21 18 12 7
28 85 78 72 65 59 53 48 42 37 32 27 22 19 13 9
29 86 79 72 66 60 54 49 43 38 33 28 24 21 15 11
30 86 79 73 67 61 55 50 46 39 35 30 25 22 17 13
Difference between Dry Bulb and Wet Bulb Temperature
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R E A D I N G:
Its Not the Heat,
Its the Humidity
H
ave you ever heard an uncomfortable person say, Its not
the heat, its the humidity? They are suffering not only
because the temperature is high but also because the air is damp.
Maybe youve heard another weather clichIts hot, but its a
dry heat. That saying downplays the discomfort one feels in high
temperatures in dry climates. When the air is dry, heat is not so
oppressive. What do these expressions mean, and are they true?
Water is present in air as a vapor. We see water condense from
the air when drops appear on cooling surfaces. For example, a
glass holding a cold drink will get wet on the outside. Dew forms
on low-growing plants and other surfaces when the temperature
drops at night and reaches the dew point. These examples also tell
us that warm air can hold more water than cool air.
In 1783, Horace de Saussure (17401799) used a human hair to
tell if the amount of water in the air was high or low. As many
people notice when they complain about a bad hair day, the
length of a hair varies according to humidity. Saussures invention
and other devices that measure water vapor content are called
hygrometers. Some hygrometers compare temperature data from
wet and dry thermometers. With that information, you could then
read a chart telling relative humidity for each difference.
If the air were saturated, or full of water vapor, it would be
holding as much vapor as possible at that particular temperature.
Any new water evaporating makes vapor already in the air
condense, or become liquid. Think about a foggy night when the
air feels wet. Relative humidity measures the percentage of the
maximum water vapor the air is currently holding.
If you can safely get near a heater that is blowing warmed air
(a heat vent in a room or the outlet of a clothes dryer will work),
try this experiment. Hold your hand in the path of the heated air
and notice how warm it feels. Then wet your hand with room
temperature or warm water. Place your hand in front of the heater
again. How does the air feel now?

Relative Humidity
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Even though the water on your hand is warm and the air
hitting your hand is also warm, you feel a cooling from the heaters
air flow. Thats because the water on your hand is evaporating and
that requires energy. Your hand is cooled.
You can measure relative humidity using two thermometers. If
you keep the bulb of one thermometer wet and one dry, their
temperatures will differ. Some of the water around the bulb of the
wet thermometer will evaporate. Measure the two temperatures
and plot them on a chart. The greater the difference between the two
temperatures, the lower the relative humidity. Can you explain why?
The wet bulb temperature will be lower because the evaporating
water creates a cooling mechanism. The waters change in state
from liquid to gas requires energy, which it removes from the air in
the form of heat energy. As the heat is absorbed by the evaporating
water, the temperature around the wet bulb drops.
A large difference between temperatures means lots of
evaporation is occurring around the wet bulb. The relative
humidity is low so the air has lots of capacity to accept water
vapor.
A small difference between the wet bulb and dry bulb
temperatures means little evaporation is occurring and relative
humidity is high. The airs capacity for water vapor is small. There
is no room for newly evaporating water unless some vapor already
in the air condenses.
Lets return to our two weather sayings. When someone says,
Its not the heat, its the humidity, they are probably sweaty and
sticky. Perspiration is the bodys way of cooling itself. Water
evaporates from our skin, using heat energy to change from liquid
to vapor. The process of cooling is happening in the same way the
blowing heater cools a hand in the example described earlier. But
on a humid day, the air is closer to saturation, and perspiration
evaporates slowly. Cooling does not occur. In a dry climate, water
evaporates quickly, so if we perspire, the water evaporates quickly
and we feel more comfortable. That means a dry heat is more
comfortable than a humid heat. However, some climates are dry
but so hot that people still feel uncomfortable. After all, an oven is
a dry heat, too!

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Vocabulary Words
condense ................................. to become liquid from vapor
dew............................................ water that condenses on cooler surfaces
perspiration ............................. salty liquid released through the skin; sweat
relative humidity.................... amount of water vapor in the air, described as a
percentage of the maximum amount of vapor the air
can hold
saturated .................................. unable to hold any more; completely full
vapor ......................................... gas
TOPICS FOR
FURTHER STUDY
Horace de
Saussure
dew point
hygrometers
relative
humidity for a
variety of cities