A1_6 Do you want to hang out?

Abstract

This paper addresses the simple question: how much time will it take for wet clothes to dry, if they are hung up on a washing line, based on the current weather conditions? The metric form of the Penman equation is used to calculate the evaporation rate of water from a plane surface, which is dependent on the meteorological conditions of ambient temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, and the various properties of air and water at said ambient temperature. Empirically measuring the surface area of, and the mass of water contained in, a wet piece of clothing enables the time taken t for total evaporation to be determined. This paper concludes with an equation for t, provided the above factors are known, and gives example results for different items of clothing.