a mass of air at 20°c has a relative humidity of 36% if the air is cooled at 16°c what will itsrelative humidity be? the saturated vapor pressure at 20c and 16c are 17.5mmHg and 13.6mmHg

Answer 1

To find the new relative humidity of the air after cooling it to 16°C, we first need to calculate the actual vapor pressure at both 20°C and 16°C.

Using the formula:
Relative humidity = (Actual vapor pressure / Saturated vapor pressure) x 100

At 20°C:
The saturated vapor pressure is 17.5 mmHg, and the relative humidity is 36%.
We can calculate the actual vapor pressure at 20°C:
Actual vapor pressure = (Relative humidity / 100) x Saturated vapor pressure
Actual vapor pressure = (36/100) x 17.5
Actual vapor pressure = 6.3 mmHg

At 16°C:
The saturated vapor pressure is 13.6 mmHg.
We can calculate the relative humidity at 16°C using the actual vapor pressure we calculated earlier:
Relative humidity = (Actual vapor pressure / Saturated vapor pressure) x 100
Relative humidity = (6.3 / 13.6) x 100
Relative humidity ≈ 46.32%

Therefore, the relative humidity of the air will be approximately 46.32% after cooling it to 16°C.