What do psychrometers do

Be sure that you take care to use a psychrometer carefully in order to prevent any damage to yourself or to the device. Using a psychrometer to calibrate a hygrometer ensures the most accurate readings when it comes to determining relative humidity.

Those who rely on accurate atmospheric readings for their jobs, including those work or train outdoors, typically utilize psychrometer technology as part of a handheld weather meter device that is designed for use in the field.

Storm Chasing Storm Chaser Kit. These can be purchased, often with your psychrometer, or downloaded from the Internet. Generally, these charts require you to find both of your readings on the chart and match them up to the corresponding relative humidity. Dew point temperatures can also be found on these charts. Psychrometers measure the humidity in the general environment or specific areas such as a chamber or structure. Psychrometers are generally used in laboratory settings to determine precise measurements for experiments and chemical reactions.

A stationary psychrometer is the most common and is used in some forms of industrial equipment, while a mobile psychrometer, known as a sling psychrometer , consists of two thermometers attached to a handle and is spun in the air for several minutes to calculate the relative humidity in the field.

Compared to a sling psychrometer, a digital psychrometer is remarkably easy-to-use. There's no need to wave the psychrometer around for several minutes before you can make your calculations. It's all automatic at the push of a button. For those who need to use a psychrometer, this takes all the effort out of the task and makes the process a great deal faster. You can obtain more data and perform more calculations with a digital psychrometer.

The wet bulb has a cotton wick over the bulb of the thermometer, which is moistened with room temperature water. If the surrounding air is relatively dry, more moisture will evaporate into it, and as a result, the measured drop in temperature will be greater. Once the wick is wet, hold the handle and whirl the psychrometer in the air.

Whirling generates airflow around both the wet and dry bulbs. This action allows water in the saturated wick to evaporate, thereby reducing the temperature of the wet-bulb thermometer. The dry bulb temperature will remain unchanged. A sling psychrometer can be used to determine the physical and thermal properties of moist air by using standard tables and charts.

Typically it is used to determine relative humidity. Some sling psychrometers include mechanisms to allow relative humidity to be read directly without needing to refer to tables.

Keeping the sling psychrometer clean is important for accurate measurements. It is a type of hygrometer , a family of devices that are designed to measure relative humidity.

Psychrometers are among the simplest hygrometers and they can even be made at home with a few supplies from a hardware store.

It is also possible to buy them through scientific supply catalogs, as well as stores that stock supplies for measuring climate conditions like temperature and barometric pressure. To measure relative humidity in an environment, the psychrometer relies on the fact that humidity will change evaporation speed.

The device consists of two thermometers. One is a dry bulb thermometer that is exposed to the ambient air to measure the temperature.