Answer 2:
Droplets appear on the glass surface because
water molecules condense from the air. In
order for condensation to happen, the temperature
of the glass should be lower than the dew
point of air. There are two things that affect
the dew point of air: relative humidity
(the amount of water vapor in the air) and air
temperature. You can check out this website
(also in previous answer) for calculating the dew
point: www.dpcalc.org.
Let me give you an example. Weather determines
relative humidity. In Santa Barbara, the average
daily relative humidity is 71%. Let's assume a
comfortable room temperature of 77°F. The dew
point at these conditions is 67°F. What does
this mean? This means that as long as you
can make the temperature of the glass lower than
67°F, then droplets should appear.
Filling the glass with ice should reduce the
glass temperature to somewhere around 32°F, making
condensation possible. In fact, assuming an
average relative humidity of 71%, an ice-filled
glass should have droplets form on its surface as
long as the air temperature is above 41°F.
|