hygrometer, instrument used in meteorological science to measure the humidity, or amount of water vapour in the air. Several major types of hygrometers are used to measure humidity.
Mechanical hygrometers make use of the principle that organic substances (particularly finer substances such as goldbeater’s skin [ox gut] and human hair) contract and expand in response to the humidity. Contraction and expansion of the hair element in a mechanical hygrometer causes the spring to move the needle on the dial.
Electrical hygrometers measure the change in electrical resistance of a thin layer of lithium chloride, or of a semiconductor device, as the humidity changes. Other hygrometers sense changes in weight, volume, or transparency of various substances that react to humidity.
Dew-point hygrometers typically consist of a polished metal mirror that is cooled at a constant pressure and constant vapour content until moisture just starts to condense on it. The temperature of the metal at which condensation begins is the dew point.
The psychrometer (q.v.) is a hygrometer that utilizes two thermometers—one wet-bulb and one dry-bulb—to determine humidity through evaporation. A wetted cloth wraps the wet-bulb thermometer at its enlarged end. By rapidly rotating both thermometers, or by blowing air over the bulbs, the temperature of the wet-bulb thermometer is cooler than that of the dry-bulb thermometer. The difference in temperature between the wet- and dry-bulb thermometers can be used to compute the amount of water vapour in the air.