It seems most people either enjoy humid weather or else they despise it with very little middle ground. Like it or not, we will be getting some humid weather soon enough.
There is one fact about humidity that would surprise most people. Air high in humidity is often referred to as being “heavy” when it is, in fact, “light.” A brief chemistry lesson can help sort this out.
Ambient air is mostly nitrogen. Nitrogen molecules are made up of two nitrogen atoms, which have a combined molecular mass of 28 atomic units. Water vapor is made up of one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms, which have a combined molecular mass of 18 atomic units. So when the amount of humidity in the air increases, the air is actually lighter because the air is being made up of a higher percentage of these lighter water vapor molecules.
The heaviness we feel in humid weather is merely our own bodies feeling sluggish. It is not being caused by the weight of the air.
