What’s the ratio of air to water at that percent? Is there a cap on the amount of moisture in the air? Is it the same for different elevations?
In: Earth Science
There’s (almost) always some amount of water vapour (steam) just floating about in the air. 100% humidity means that the air can not accept any more water vapour, meaning any additional water that enters the air condenses as liquid, this is what fog and clouds are.
The amount of water air can hold depends on temperature, the hotter the air the more water it can hold. This is also why cold cans of drink will form a layer of water on them. The air around the can is cooled so much that the amount of water the air can hold drops below the amount of water already in the air, so that water has to condense as a liquid.
Same effect happens when you can see your breath on a cold day
Humidity is the amount of water vapor being carried in the air at a given area. How much water air can carry depends a lot on factors like temperature and how much water is actually evaporating into the air. Hotter air can hold more water vapor *but* if you’re at a desert where there’s no water, the humidity is going to be lower. Colder air can’t hold as much water vapor.
The capacity is “100% humidity” – once the air hits that limit, anything else either… stays where it is (like sweat on your skin, it can’t evaporate), or, if the air was rising upward and hits a temperature where it can’t keep the water vapor any more, then the water condensates into clouds and that can result in rain or snow or hail depending on other circumstances. If the temperature differences are very low elevation you end up with fog, which is just a cloud of condensed water vapor at or near the surface level.
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