Table of Contents
Can water evaporate in saturated air?
Many factors affect how evaporation happens. If the air is already clogged, or saturated, with other substances, there wont be enough room in the air for liquid to evaporate quickly. When the humidity is 100 percent, the air is saturated with water. No more water can evaporate.
What happens when air is 100\% saturated with water vapor?
When relative humidity reaches 100 percent or is saturated, moisture will condense, meaning the water vapor changes to liquid vapor. Thus, the saturation level of air is related to the air’s temperature. As air temperature increases (or becomes warmer), more water remains in a gas phase.
What happens when liquid water evaporates into the air?
Once evaporated, a molecule of water vapor spends about ten days in the air. As water vapor rises higher in the atmosphere, it begins to cool back down. When it is cool enough, the water vapor condenses and returns to liquid water. These water droplets eventually gather to form clouds and precipitation.
When air gets close to its saturation point What happens to the rate of evaporation?
Once the air reaches the saturation point, the rate of evaporation becomes equal to the rate of condensation. Also, it is at this point when the relative humidity equals 100 percent and the temperature and dewpoint are identical.
What happens when it reaches 100 humidity?
A reading of 100 percent relative humidity means that the air is totally saturated with water vapor and cannot hold any more, creating the possibility of rain.
Is it possible to reach 100 humidity?
Surprisingly, yes, the condition is known as supersaturation. At any given temperature and air pressure, a specific maximum amount of water vapor in the air will produce a relative humidity (RH) of 100 percent. Supersaturated air literally contains more water vapor than is needed to cause saturation.
Why does water evaporate faster in dry air?
When the air is dry, water evaporates faster than it condenses so there is a net high rate of evaporation. But if the air is very humid, the rate of condensation would be high so even if water evaporated, the net rate of evaporation would not be as high as on a dry day.
Does humidity affect the rate of evaporation of water?
Evaporation rates are higher at higher temperatures because as temperature increases, the amount of energy necessary for evaporation decreases. Humidity, or water vapor content of the air, also has an effect on evaporation. The lower the relative humidity, the drier the air, and the higher the evaporation rate.
What is the saturation water vapor concentration in the air?
Solving this equation gives you a water vapor concentration of 1000. The air is saturated when you reach this point and the RH = 100\%. The saturation water vapor concentration in the air in the warm cup would be 3000. And again the relative humidity would be 100\%.
What happens to water vapor when it evaporates?
Rather water vapor is evaporating so quickly that it is filling the cooler air above with more moisture than it can handle (the relative humidity is over 100\%, the air is supersaturatedwith moisture).
What is the saturation of the air in the warm Cup?
The saturation water vapor concentration in the air in the warm cup would be 3000. And again the relative humidity would be 100\%. The air is saturated in both glasses but there is more water
How does temperature affect the rate of evaporation?
In the figure below we compare glasses filled with cold water, room temperature water, and warm water. The air is saturated, the RH is 100\%, in all three cases. The rate of evaporation increases with increasing temperature.