Does altitude affect the salt test?

hipine

When a capful of damp salt is placed in a sealed container at 70 deg F, is the relative humidity level that the container will stabilize at affected by altitude?

In other words, will the RH in the bag be different if a salt test is conducted at sea level vs. if it's conducted at 10k ft (if the temperature is identical)?

I guess a corollary question would be, does a Boveda bag produce the same RH in a closed container at 10k ft that it does at sea level.  I did pose that question to Boveda and will share the answer when I get it.

Any physical chemistry 101 professors on the list?  

Thanks!

hipine

Sorry, noob here and don't know how to edit the original post.  I just realized the question should probably be worded more generally as "does barometric pressure affect the salt test?"  That's the more direct question. 

In other words does the container stabilize at a different RH if the barometric pressure is 30 in Hg vs if it's 27 in Hg, given constant temperature?

 Thanks for your patience.

peter4jc

Sorry, we don't answer noob questions until you have at least 25 posts.

peter4jc

hipine said:

In other words does the container stabilize at a different RH if the barometric pressure is 30 in Hg vs if it's 27 in Hg, given constant temperature?

 Thanks for your patience.

I say no.  It hurts my head to think this hard, but thanks for making me think anyway.

Wylaff

Absolute humidity is the total measure of water in the atmosphere (not percentage of saturation). As you get higher in altitude, the atmosphere becomes thinner (less pressure). This means that the total amount of water vapor the atmosphere can potentially hold is decreased.

It will affect your humidor, but in a sealed container IE: salt test should be fine.

peter4jc

Professor Baron von Hallam 

dirtdude

Wylaff said:

Absolute humidity is the total measure of water in the atmosphere (not percentage of saturation). As you get higher in altitude, the atmosphere becomes thinner (less pressure). This means that the total amount of water vapor the atmosphere can potentially hold is decreased.

It will affect your humidor, but in a sealed container IE: salt test should be fine.

Where did you cut and paste this from Baron von Hallam

jsnake

dirtdude said:

Wylaff said:

Absolute humidity is the total measure of water in the atmosphere (not percentage of saturation). As you get higher in altitude, the atmosphere becomes thinner (less pressure). This means that the total amount of water vapor the atmosphere can potentially hold is decreased.

It will affect your humidor, but in a sealed container IE: salt test should be fine.

Where did you cut and paste this from Baron von Hallam

Didn't know we had full blown scientists on here. Next gong you know someone is going to claim to be a doctor or an attorney. 

Glad someone had an answer for the guy. I'm sitting here shrugging my shoulders. 

Wylaff

Google something or other

Bob_Luken

Wylaff said:

Absolute humidity is the total measure of water in the atmosphere (not percentage of saturation). As you get higher in altitude, the atmosphere becomes thinner (less pressure). This means that the total amount of water vapor the atmosphere can potentially hold is decreased.

It will affect your humidor, but in a sealed container IE: salt test should be fine.

Fry

He's not a scientist, but he did stay at a holiday inn.