ATMS 120: SP2015

Snodgrass

Name and NetID: _______________________________

Weekly Challenge Problem #2: Moisture

Due: Tuesday Feb 10, 2015

A few weekends ago, ABC Family showed all of the Harry Potter movies in a row and I was
inspired to write this assignment. Lets venture into the world of Harry Potter for a moment.
Every time the dementors show up it gets cold and foggy and all of the happiness is taken from
the world. Lets figure out scientifically why it gets so foggy when they arrive by setting up a
little experiment using a thermometer and a mirror. Imagine you were standing in your bathroom
brushing your teeth when all of a sudden Voldemort sends a dementor to attack you. In your
bathroom, you have one of those thermometers that stick to a glass surface (like those you find
on fish tanks) and moments before the dementor arrives, you see that the temperature of the air in
the room is a really warm 40C. Then, the cloaked figure arrives and the temperature dives
immediately as you ready your wand for the patronus charm. You notice that just as the mirror
and the room are completely filled with fog, the air temperature hit 10C exactly. Use this
information to figure out the answers to the questions below. If you have no idea what a
dementor is, just ignore that part of the story and focus on what happened to the air temperature
in the room. (Hint: you will make a lot of use of figure 1.9 on page 11 of the text. You may also
want to watch this video for a little help.)
http://www.atmos.uiuc.edu/~snodgrss/moisture/moisture_vodcast.html
1.

Write down the equation for relative humidity in the space below.

2.

What is the saturation vapor pressure (SVP) of the air in the bathroom before the
dementor attack?

3.

What is the dewpoint temperature (T d) of the air in the bathroom during this whole
scene?

4.

What is the vapor pressure (VP) of the air in the bathroom during this whole scene?

5.

What is the relative humidity of the air in the bathroom just before the dementor
attacks?

6.

What is the relative humidity of the air once the dementor arrives?

7.

Why did the moisture condense on the mirror and a fog form in the bathroom once
the dementor arrived?