Advertisement

Advertisement

hygrometer

[ hahy-grom-i-ter ]

noun

  1. any instrument for measuring the water-vapor content of the atmosphere.


hygrometer

/ ˌhaɪɡrəˈmɛtrɪk; haɪˈɡrɒmɪtə /

noun

  1. any of various instruments for measuring humidity
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


hygrometer

/ hī-grŏmĭ-tər /

  1. Any of several instruments that measure humidity. The most common type of hygrometer consists of two, side-by-side mercury or electronic thermometers, one of which has a dry bulb, and one of which has a bulb wrapped with a wet cotton or linen wick. As water evaporates from the wet bulb, it absorbs heat from the thermometer, driving down its temperature reading. The difference in temperature between the two thermometers is then used to calculate the relative humidity. This type of hygrometer is also called a psychrometer. Other hygrometers make use of the temperatures at which dew forms and disappears to calculate the relative humidity. Older hygrometers used the length of a strand of hair, which stretches when it absorbs moisture, to measure relative humidity.


Discover More

Derived Forms

  • hygrometric, adjective
  • ˌhygroˈmetrically, adverb
  • hyˈgrometry, noun
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of hygrometer1

First recorded in 1660–70; hygro- + -meter
Discover More

Example Sentences

The thread thus forms an excellent hygrometer, which is constantly under the eye of the observer.

O for a big double-barreled hygrometer,To measure this moisture that rolls from my brow!

The two thus combined making a hygrometer: for which some kinds of hair, grass, or seaweed may be a make-shift.

The dew-point determination is, however, not as convenient to make as the wet-and-dry-bulb hygrometer readings.

Therefore, the hygrometer (convex) curves are ordinarily more useful in determining relative humidities.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


hygromahygrometric