Humidity and Water Vapor

14) Humidity and relative humidity are related but different.

15) Humidity is the amount of moisture in the air.

16) Relative humidity is the amount of moisture in the air compared with the maximum amount of moisture the air can hold at a given temperature.

17) Air is saturated when the rates of evaporation and condensation are equal.

18) Air cannot hold any more water when it is saturated.

19) The dew point is the temperature at which air with a given amount of water vapor reaches saturation.

20) Water will condense on objects when it reaches its dew point 20) Water will condense on objects when it reaches its dew point. Dew and frost are examples of this.

21) The relative humidity is 100% at the dew point.

22) Air’s ability to hold water increases as the temperature increase.

Rain Shadow

23) A rain shadow is an area on one side of a mountain that does not receive much rain. Wind usually blows from the ocean inland. The wind from the ocean carries a lot of water and it falls as precipitation on the ocean side of the mountain. The rain shadow is on the other side of the mountain.