About the Dry Basis / Wet Basis Moisture Converter
This tool converts moisture content between wet basis and dry basis, two common ways to report water content in grains, foods, biomass, and other materials. It also estimates the water mass and dry solids mass for a sample size you enter, which is useful for checking batches, drying targets, or lab results.
How to use this calculator
- Select whether your known moisture value is wet basis moisture or dry basis moisture.
- Enter the moisture value as a percent.
- Enter the sample size in kilograms for the mass-balance breakdown.
- Read the converted moisture result and the calculated water and dry solids masses.
- If entering wet basis moisture, keep the value from 0% to less than 100%.
How it works
Wet basis moisture is the mass of water divided by the total wet material mass. Dry basis moisture is the mass of water divided by the dry solids mass, so dry basis values can exceed 100% when there is more water than dry matter.
If wet basis is known, the calculator uses DB% = WB% ÷ (100 − WB%) × 100. If dry basis is known, it uses WB% = DB% ÷ (100 + DB%) × 100.
For the mass balance, the calculator applies the wet basis percentage to the entered sample size. Water mass equals sample size × WB ÷ 100, and dry solids equal sample size minus water. Results are educational estimates and should be checked against the applicable lab method or industry reporting standard for official moisture measurements.
Example calculation
For a 100 kg sample with 12.00% wet basis moisture, the dry basis moisture is 12 ÷ (100 − 12) × 100 = 13.64% DB. The water in the sample is 100 × 12% = 12.00 kg, and the dry solids are 100 − 12 = 88.00 kg.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between wet basis and dry basis moisture?
Wet basis compares water mass to the total wet material mass, while dry basis compares water mass to only the dry solids mass.
Can dry basis moisture be over 100%?
Yes. Dry basis moisture can exceed 100% because it is measured relative to dry solids, not total mass.
Why must wet basis moisture be less than 100%?
At 100% wet basis, the sample would be all water with no dry solids, making the dry basis calculation undefined.
Does the sample size affect the converted moisture percentage?
No. The sample size only affects the water and dry solids mass breakdown; the WB-to-DB conversion depends only on the moisture percentage.
Which moisture basis should I use?
Use the basis required by your crop, food, process, lab method, or purchasing specification, because wet basis and dry basis values are not interchangeable without conversion.