Physics

Relative Humidity Calculator

Calculate relative humidity from air temperature and dew point.


Relative Humidity Calculator

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Find relative humidity from air temperature and dew point — the reverse of the usual dew-point calculation.

How it works

Using the Magnus-Tetens approximation, air at 25°C with a dew point of 16.7°C works out to about 60% relative humidity. The closer the dew point sits to the air temperature, the higher the humidity.

What this does not include

This is the reverse of this site’s dew point calculator, which goes from temperature and humidity to dew point rather than back the other way. Both use the same approximation, accurate to within about 0.4°C-equivalent over typical ambient conditions.

How to use this calculator

  1. Enter the air temperature.
  2. Enter the dew point.

A worked example

A temperature of 25°C with a dew point of 16.6931°C: relative humidity ≈ 60%.

Temperature 20°C, dew point 9.2552°C: relative humidity ≈ 50%.

What the variables mean

Variable Meaning
Temperature Current air temperature
Dew point Temperature at which the air becomes saturated with moisture

Edge cases worth knowing

The closer the dew point is to the actual temperature, the higher the relative humidity. At 100% humidity, dew point equals temperature exactly — the air is fully saturated.

A dew point higher than the actual temperature is physically impossible — dew point can never exceed air temperature, so the calculator declines to show a result for that combination.

Why must dew point always be lower than air temperature?

Dew point represents the temperature air would need to cool to before becoming saturated — since warmer air can hold more moisture, the dew point can never exceed the actual air temperature.

What does 100% relative humidity mean?

The air is fully saturated — its dew point equals the current air temperature exactly, which is why fog and condensation form at that point.

Is this the same calculation weather apps use?

Weather services often use more refined psychrometric formulas with additional correction terms, but the Magnus-Tetens approximation used here is accurate enough for everyday humidity estimates.

Sources

  1. Magnus-Tetens approximation (b=17.62, c=243.12°C) — standard meteorological formula
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Written by

R. Solano

Physics writer

R. Solano writes the physics calculators, spanning mechanics, electricity, optics and thermodynamics. Each page names the physical model it uses and the conditions under which that model holds — ideal gas, no air resistance, small-angle approximation — because a physics result without its assumptions is a number without a meaning. Formulas are given in symbols first, then in the calculator.

Reviewed by

V. Kowalski

Calculator reviewer — physics and engineering

V. Kowalski reviews the physics and engineering calculators, checking that each page states the physical model it assumes and that the stated model matches the formula actually implemented. Review covers unit consistency throughout a calculation and whether approximations are flagged where the underlying physics is more complicated than the formula suggests.

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