Naked Science Forum

Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: erickejah on 01/12/2009 23:40:59

Title: Is dry air easier to heat up than humid air?
Post by: erickejah on 01/12/2009 23:40:59

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Thanks in advance for your response.

Title: Is dry air easier to heat up than humid air?
Post by: Soul Surfer on 02/12/2009 10:00:14

The simple answer is yes because the specific heat of water vapour is greater than that of dry air  but it is quite a complex problem because how much easier dry air is to heat up than wet air depends on how the water is in the air, because if it is there as fine droplets extra energy is needed to vapourise the droplets as it warms up and the latent heat of vaporisation of water is particularly high  this can male foggy air much more difficult to heat up than dry air.