Hygrometer

General Eastern Digital Thermo-hygrometer

Description

Any of several instruments used for measuring atmospheric humidity. Some types of hygrometers are:

• Psychrometer - measures the temperature difference between a wet-bulb and a dry-bulb thermometer. A sling psychrometer is mounted in a frame, then whirled in the air for ventilation.
• Hair hygrometer - measures the expansion and contraction of a human hair that is mounted under tension. A gold beater's skin hygrometer uses a proteinaceous membrane for the same type of measurement.
• dew-point hygrometer - measures the temperature for the formation and evaporation of dew that is observed using a photoelectric cell.
• diffusion hygrometer - measures the diffusion of water vapor through a porous membrane.
• Lithium chloride hygrometer - measures the temperature and electrical conductivity of a hygroscopic salt that becomes conductive when it absorbs water.

Synonyms and Related Terms

dial hygrometer; hair hygrometer; dew-point hygrometer; diffusion hygrometer; lithium chloride hygrometer; liquid crystal hygrometer; hygrometr (Ces.); Hygrometer (Dan., Deut., Ned., Sven.); hygromètre (Fr.); higrómetro (Port.)

Resources and Citations

• Boise Cascade Paper Group, The Paper Handbook, Boise Cascade, Portland OR, 1989

• Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982

• Dictionary of Building Preservation, Ward Bucher, ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1996

• Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygrometer (Accessed Jan. 15, 2006)