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• Atmospheric air:
Mixture which contains many gaseous components as well as water vapor and
miscellaneous contaminants (e.g., smoke, pollen, and gaseous pollutants not normally
present in free air far from pollution sources)
• Dry air: is atmospheric air with all water vapor and contaminants removed.
• Moist air: is a binary (two‐component) mixture of dry air and water vapor. The amount
of water vapor varies from zero (dry air) to a maximum that depends on temperature
and pressure.
• Saturation is a state of neutral equilibrium between moist air and the condensed water
phase (liquid or solid)
Ref: ASHRAE Fundamental Handbook- 2017
Chapter 1 : Psychrometrics (F01), Page – 1.1
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PSYCHROMETRIC TERMS…THE ASHRAE WAY
• Humidity ratio W (or mixing ratio) of a given moist air sample is defined as the ratio of
the mass of water vapor to the mass of dry air in the sample
• Specific humidity : is the ratio of the mass of water vapor to total mass of the moist air
sample.
• Absolute humidity (alternatively, water vapor density) is the ratio of the mass of water
vapor to total volume of the sample.
• Saturation humidity ratio : is the humidity ratio of moist air saturated with respect to
water (or ice) at the same temperature t and pressure p
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PSYCHROMETRIC TERMS…THE ASHRAE WAY
• Relative humidity : is the ratio of the actual water vapor partial pressure in moist air at
the dew‐point pressure and temperature to the reference saturation water vapor partial
pressure at the dry‐bulb pressure and temperature
• Dew‐point temperature : is the temperature of moist air saturated at pressure , with the
same humidity ratio as that of the given sample of moist air.
• A psychrometer :consists of two thermometers; one thermometer’s bulb is covered by a
wick that has been thoroughly wetted with water. When the wet bulb is placed in an
airstream, water evaporates from the wick, eventually reaching an equilibrium
temperature called the wet‐bulb temperature.
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