Question

When two temperatures read as nearly the same on a psychrometer, you can conclude that _____.

A. a change in temperature is likely
B. the air has a high relative humidity
C. your instrument reading is accurate
D. the dew point temperature is very low

Answer 1

When two temperatures are nearly the same on a psychrometer, it indicates that the air has a high relative humidity, meaning the dew point is close to the current air temperature.

Step-by-step explanation:

When two temperatures read as nearly the same on a psychrometer, you can conclude that the air has a high relative humidity. This situation occurs because the wet-bulb temperature, which is usually lower due to evaporative cooling, approaches the dry-bulb temperature when there's more water vapor in the air, hindering evaporation. The dew point is the temperature at which relative humidity is 100%; it's the point at which water starts to condense out of the air. Therefore, if the temperatures on a psychrometer are close to each other, it indicates that the air is nearly saturated with water vapor, and the dew point is close to the current air temperature.