Humidity

[Neeranam]

Can anyone explain humidity to me? IS high humidity good or bad, does it make it feel hotter?

Is Thailand a relativly humid place, compared to say Australia?

Also what is relative humidity? It's been 20 years since I studied thermodynamics.

[jkinbkk]

All you need to know right here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humidity

[JetsetBkk]

Can anyone explain humidity to me? IS high humidity good or bad, does it make it feel hotter?

Is Thailand a relativly humid place, compared to say Australia?

Also what is relative humidity? It's been 20 years since I studied thermodynamics.

If you are so hot that you are sweating, then high humidity is bad - the wind won't remove much of the sweat from your skin because it (the wind) is already nearly saturated with water vapour.

The purpose of sweating is to make use of "forced evaporation" - any 'dry' wind will remove the water vapour from around your body, allowing more water vapour to be formed from your sweat (eeew! ). This process (evaporation) requires heat to make it happen - so the heat comes from your body making you cooler.

If there's no wind, the water vapour around your body stays there, so you don't get cooler. Instead, you continue - uselessly - to sweat. That's why fans can be more useful than air-cons in some circumstances (but don't tell Naam ).

[Zpete]

I love the humility..... oooops humidity.

East Coast Bays here, just north of Auckland often hit top 90s.

My dad, who lived 50 years in Melbs was stuffed when temp here reached 25C.

It was the humidity, not heat.

I use fans, they move nore air around, feels better.