Given below are two statements, one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other as Reason (R).

Assertion (A): Relative humidity decreases with increasing air temperature.

Reason (R): Absolute humidity increases with increasing evaporation.

Select the correct answer from the codes given below:

Question

Question

This question was previously asked in

UPPSC PCS Prelims 2024 Official GS Paper-I

Answer 1

The correct answer is option 3.

Key Points

Assertion (A): Relative humidity decreases with increasing air temperature.
- Correct. Relative humidity is the ratio of the actual amount of water vapor in the air to the maximum amount of water vapor the air can hold at a given temperature.
- As temperature increases, the air's capacity to hold moisture increases, but if the actual moisture content remains the same, relative humidity decreases.
Reason (R): Absolute humidity increases with increasing evaporation.
- Correct. Absolute humidity refers to the total mass of water vapor per unit volume of air.
- As evaporation increases, more water vapor enters the air, leading to an increase in absolute humidity.
Conclusion:
- Both A and R are correct, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
  - A talks about relative humidity (which depends on temperature), while R explains absolute humidity (which depends on evaporation).
Correct Answer: Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.