A
hygrometer is an instrument used for measuring the moisture content in the atmosphere. Humidity measurement instruments usually rely on measurements of some other quantity such as temperature, pressure, mass or a mechanical or electrical change in a substance as moisture is absorbed. By calibration and calculation, these measured quantities can lead to a measurement of humidity. Modern electronic devices use temperature of condensation (the
dew point), or changes in electrical
capacitance or
resistance to measure humidity differences. The first practical hygrometer was invented by
polymath Johann Heinrich Lambert in 1755.