Psychrometer

A psychrometer, or wet-and-dry-bulb thermometer, consists of two thermometers, one that is dry and one that is kept moist with distilled water on a sock or wick. At temperatures above the freezing point of water, evaporation of water from the wick lowers the temperature, so that the wet-bulb thermometer usually shows a lower temperature than that of the dry-bulb thermometer. When the air temperature is below freezing, however, the wet-bulb is covered with a thin coating of ice and may be warmer than the dry bulb.

Relative humidity is computed from the ambient temperature as shown by the dry-bulb thermometer and the difference in temperatures as shown by the wet-bulb and dry-bulb thermometers. Relative humidity can also be determined by locating the intersection of the wet and dry-bulb temperatures on a psychrometric chart. The two thermometers coincide when the air is fully saturated, and the greater the difference the drier the air. Psychrometers are commonly used in meteorology, and in the HVAC industry for proper refrigerant charging of residential and commercial air conditioning systems