Coupled steady laminar heat and mass transfer from an evaporating circular pool of water into quiescent dry air is considered in the limit of large Rayleigh number (Ra). The resulting boundary-layer equations are reformulated in similarity-like variables that are necessary for numerical implementation; different variables are necessary, depending on whether the water is hotter than the ambient air, or vice versa. The governing partial differential equations are solved using a finite-element method and the dependences of the dimensionless Nusselt (Nu) and Sherwood (Sh) numbers on the water temperature and the ambient air temperature are determined. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.