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Experimental Procedure for the Setting Up of the Salts

  The setting up of the salt chambers was an important step in obtaining a range of humidities on which to base the experiment. The procedure summarised below was taken from [Pascua-Srianna, 1994].

• The salts were chosen to achieve a spread of RH's from 0-100%
• The salts were dried in a dessicator over Silica Gel for 3 days
• Chambers washed thoroughly
• 100g of each salt placed in chambers
• Left for 24 hours and then RH was measured. All RH's were
• Began adding water in 50ml increments, until RH values close to the quoted, ensuring that a saturated solution always remained
• Upon regular measurement of RH, a stable RH was never observed to be reached
• Test was repeated until stable R.H.'s were reached

The initial problems may have been due to:

• Evacuation of chambers was unsatisfactory - air leaks
• Salts were not measured. A large enough amount was used to ensure saturation
• Fault in the hydrometer or the hydrometer being upset by pressure at its coupling with the chamber.