How does an air conditioner work?

Answer 1

An air conditioner removes heat from indoor air and transfers it outdoors, creating a cooler indoor environment. Here’s a breakdown of the process:

Evaporator Coil: Warm air from the room is drawn into the AC and passed over the evaporator coil containing refrigerant. The refrigerant absorbs heat from the air, cooling it down.

Compressor: The refrigerant, now heated and in gas form, moves to the compressor outside. The compressor increases its temperature and pressure, preparing it for heat release.

Condenser Coil: The hot refrigerant gas travels to the condenser coil, releasing

heat to the outside air. As it cools, the refrigerant turns back into a liquid.

Expansion Valve: The refrigerant passes through an expansion valve, which lowers its pressure and temperature, making it ready to absorb heat again.

This cycle repeats until the indoor temperature reaches the set level on the thermostat, effectively cooling the room!

Answer 2

Simply put, outside the house, it squashes a gas using a compressor to make it hot, removes the heat using fans and stuff, then takes that squashed gas into your house, and lets it go back to being unsquashed. This expansion of gas then absorbs heat (i.e. gets cold!), the absorbed heat can be released again outside by repeating the process.

If you want to see gas absorbing heat when it expands, spray an aerosol for a few seconds and see how cold it gets!