Types of Air Conditioning Systems Ppt in Pittsburgh – What is Relative Humidity?

Many people notice that hot muggy days seem much warmer somehow than days with dry heat. One of the reasons for this is humidity, the amount of water the air holds. When the air holds more water, the basic act of perspiration or sweating is less efficient in cooling down the body. More water in the air means less water can evaporate from the skin, and most people will end up feeling warmer. Some of the ways that humidity is measured is by measuring absolute humidity, and relative humidity, which is often how people tell how “wet” a day will be.

First, it’s important to understand that air can only hold a certain amount of water at any given time. This measurement is absolute humidity, and absolute humidity is dependent on the temperature of air. Under many circumstances, the actual air holds far less water than it technically could, so the term relative comes into play. When meteorologists discuss relative humidity they usually do so in percentage amounts, and this percentage is a ratio of how much water the air does hold in comparison to how much water it could hold.