I live in a town with a lot of humidity in summer. I perspire a lot, but restaurants around here have misters outdoors to “cool things down”. How does that work? How can adding more humidity make the heat more tolerable?
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Sweat cools you down because when any substance undergoes a phase change (e.g. changing from liquid to gas) it takes a bit of extra energy to execute the change. This energy typically comes from the surroundings, and typically in the form of absorbing heat. So when you sweat, the sweat on your body evaporates, using some of the heat on your skin during the process. Using this heat is what cools you down.
The misters mimic that process. The light mist settles on your skin, evaporates, and cools you down much like sweat would.
How efficient this process is is affected by many factors, one of which is how much water is already evaporated and hanging out in the air. If the air is very dry, sweating is more effective because it is easier (takes less heat) for the water to evaporate; if the air is very wet, the process is harder (takes more heat). So on very humid days, your sweat isn’t going to cool you as effectively, making you feel warmer.
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