If you have an air sample with a dry bulb temperature of 60º F and an RH of 100%, what is its wet bulb temperature?

When the relative humidity (RH) of an air sample is at 100%, it indicates that the air is fully saturated with moisture. In meteorology and HVAC contexts, the wet bulb temperature represents the lowest temperature that can be achieved by evaporative cooling and is directly influenced by the moisture content in the air.

In this situation, since the dry bulb temperature is 60º F and the RH is 100%, the air is not only saturated but the wet bulb temperature will also be equal to the dry bulb temperature. This is because, at saturation, the temperature and the wet bulb temperature coincide. Therefore, when the RH reaches 100%, the wet bulb temperature can be accurately said to be the same as the dry bulb temperature, which is 60º F in this case.

This principle underlies many calculations in thermal comfort and ventilation design, as the wet bulb temperature is crucial for assessing moisture conditions in the air and understanding the potential for cooling through evaporation.