How does an air conditioner cool down a room?
In: 3
The concept you need to grasp, is that for matter to change state, it either absorbs or releases energy.
As I’m sure you know, adding heat to water will turn it from a liquid to a gas, but water doesn’t have to be boiling to change state. If you have ever felt cold while getting out-of the shower, what you are experiencing is the water evaporating off your skin, and to do so, it is taking the heat from your body to make the phase change.
So an a/c unit utilizes this theory, that a liquid changing state to a gas requires energy. Using a gas that has a low boiling/condensation temp, it is easy to force the gas into a liquid state with a compressor, much like an air compressor. The action of squeezing the gas isn’t enough to liquefy it, so it is send to a condensing coil (the one outside with a big fan) to cool off and turn back into a liquid at high pressure. It’s the pressure that keeps it in liquid form, like propane in your BBQ tank.
Then it travels to the evaporating coil, and a special valve admits specific amounts of liquid into this coil, which is at a lower pressure(the one in your house) the liquid turns back into a gas and while doing so, pulls the heat out of its surroundings causes a cooling effect we can take advantage of by passing air over this coil.
The now gas travels back to the compressor to repet the cycle.
This can be done with water, but it’s a much different set up. They use a unit that is under a deep vacuum, and this low pressure allows for the water to change state at very low Temps.
The concept you need to grasp, is that for matter to change state, it either absorbs or releases energy.
As I’m sure you know, adding heat to water will turn it from a liquid to a gas, but water doesn’t have to be boiling to change state. If you have ever felt cold while getting out-of the shower, what you are experiencing is the water evaporating off your skin, and to do so, it is taking the heat from your body to make the phase change.
So an a/c unit utilizes this theory, that a liquid changing state to a gas requires energy. Using a gas that has a low boiling/condensation temp, it is easy to force the gas into a liquid state with a compressor, much like an air compressor. The action of squeezing the gas isn’t enough to liquefy it, so it is send to a condensing coil (the one outside with a big fan) to cool off and turn back into a liquid at high pressure. It’s the pressure that keeps it in liquid form, like propane in your BBQ tank.
Then it travels to the evaporating coil, and a special valve admits specific amounts of liquid into this coil, which is at a lower pressure(the one in your house) the liquid turns back into a gas and while doing so, pulls the heat out of its surroundings causes a cooling effect we can take advantage of by passing air over this coil.
The now gas travels back to the compressor to repet the cycle.
This can be done with water, but it’s a much different set up. They use a unit that is under a deep vacuum, and this low pressure allows for the water to change state at very low Temps.
An AC system has two main components. The boz outside the house has a compressor motor and coolant pipes running from it to the indoor blower. The indoor unit uses a fan to pull warm air over a set of thin aluminum fins and tubes. The coolant from the outdoor unit pushes cold coolant through those tubes and when the warm air passes over them it gets cold. A fan is used to both suck in warm air and push up cold air. The entire process relies on the coolant getting cold. It gets cold because the compressor compresses it and then when it gets uncompressed it turns ice cold. This is similar to an can of compressed gas/liquid that feels cold when you release the pressure by holding down the nozzle.
An AC system has two main components. The boz outside the house has a compressor motor and coolant pipes running from it to the indoor blower. The indoor unit uses a fan to pull warm air over a set of thin aluminum fins and tubes. The coolant from the outdoor unit pushes cold coolant through those tubes and when the warm air passes over them it gets cold. A fan is used to both suck in warm air and push up cold air. The entire process relies on the coolant getting cold. It gets cold because the compressor compresses it and then when it gets uncompressed it turns ice cold. This is similar to an can of compressed gas/liquid that feels cold when you release the pressure by holding down the nozzle.
Imagine how you’d use a sponge to move water out of your house.
First, you squeeze the sponge outside to get any water out.
Then, you bring it inside and let go, so that it soaks up some water.
Move the sponge back outside and squeeze the water out.
Repeat.
This is basically what an air conditioner does, with a substance called a refrigerant instead of a sponge and heat instead of water.
Just like a sponge, a refrigerant can expand to hold heat and be squeezed to release that heat again. It actually goes from a liquid to a gas when it absorbs the heat. You can then compress it back into a liquid to squish that heat back out.
So an air conditioner takes the refrigerant outside of your house and (literally) squeezes it, pressing the heat out. This turns it into a liquid.
Then it pipes this liquid back into your house and lets off the pressure, allowing it to soak up some heat from your home and expand back into a gas.
This gas is taken back outside and compressed back into a liquid to squeeze that heat out. Rinse and repeat!
Imagine how you’d use a sponge to move water out of your house.
First, you squeeze the sponge outside to get any water out.
Then, you bring it inside and let go, so that it soaks up some water.
Move the sponge back outside and squeeze the water out.
Repeat.
This is basically what an air conditioner does, with a substance called a refrigerant instead of a sponge and heat instead of water.
Just like a sponge, a refrigerant can expand to hold heat and be squeezed to release that heat again. It actually goes from a liquid to a gas when it absorbs the heat. You can then compress it back into a liquid to squish that heat back out.
So an air conditioner takes the refrigerant outside of your house and (literally) squeezes it, pressing the heat out. This turns it into a liquid.
Then it pipes this liquid back into your house and lets off the pressure, allowing it to soak up some heat from your home and expand back into a gas.
This gas is taken back outside and compressed back into a liquid to squeeze that heat out. Rinse and repeat!
When matter changes state, it has to give up or take in a certain amount of energy. Ie when water freezes, it needs to give up a certain amount of energy called the latent heat of fusion, and when it melts, it needs to absorb that same amount of energy back in. The same thing happens between liquid and gas, but it’s called the latent heat of vaporization.
An air conditioner (or refrigerator/freezer) has a fluid inside of it called a refrigerant, and that is what will be changing phase to take energy (heat) from the room. There’s a compressor, which is basically a pump. It pumps the refrigerant into the condenser (the hot side of the air conditioner, ie outside) and that increased pressure causes the refrigerant to condense and give up the latent heat of vaporization. This release of energy makes the refrigerant hot, so a fan blows on the pipes holding it and we just try and cool it down to the same temperature as outside.
The now liquid refrigerant is then pumped inside to the evaporator (the cold side), where it can evaporate due to lower pressure and suck up the latent heat of vaporization. This makes it very 6 we blow a fan over the pipes to make it the same temperature as the inside. It then goes back to the condenser and sheds that extra energy and just goes around in a loop.
Basically, it uses the refrigerant as a way to carry the energy (heat) from inside to the outside.
A heat pump is the same thing, but in reverse. It takes the heat from outside and brings it in, which allows it to create more heat in a building for less energy than it consumes by stealing energy from outside.
When matter changes state, it has to give up or take in a certain amount of energy. Ie when water freezes, it needs to give up a certain amount of energy called the latent heat of fusion, and when it melts, it needs to absorb that same amount of energy back in. The same thing happens between liquid and gas, but it’s called the latent heat of vaporization.
An air conditioner (or refrigerator/freezer) has a fluid inside of it called a refrigerant, and that is what will be changing phase to take energy (heat) from the room. There’s a compressor, which is basically a pump. It pumps the refrigerant into the condenser (the hot side of the air conditioner, ie outside) and that increased pressure causes the refrigerant to condense and give up the latent heat of vaporization. This release of energy makes the refrigerant hot, so a fan blows on the pipes holding it and we just try and cool it down to the same temperature as outside.
The now liquid refrigerant is then pumped inside to the evaporator (the cold side), where it can evaporate due to lower pressure and suck up the latent heat of vaporization. This makes it very 6 we blow a fan over the pipes to make it the same temperature as the inside. It then goes back to the condenser and sheds that extra energy and just goes around in a loop.
Basically, it uses the refrigerant as a way to carry the energy (heat) from inside to the outside.
A heat pump is the same thing, but in reverse. It takes the heat from outside and brings it in, which allows it to create more heat in a building for less energy than it consumes by stealing energy from outside.
Gas is compressed into a liquid outside your house. Doing this creates a lot of heat. A big fan blows the heat away outside.
The liquid moves along a tube until it goes inside your house. The liquid then turns into a gas, which make it become very cold. Another big fan blows across the cold area and in into your house.
Then the gas goes through another tube back outside, where it’s turned to liquid again and the cycle continues. If you’re following along here, you can see that if you just reversed this process, you could theoretically use the same idea to also blow hot air INSIDE your house during the winter. Some systems are set up to do this, and they’re very neat!
Gas is compressed into a liquid outside your house. Doing this creates a lot of heat. A big fan blows the heat away outside.
The liquid moves along a tube until it goes inside your house. The liquid then turns into a gas, which make it become very cold. Another big fan blows across the cold area and in into your house.
Then the gas goes through another tube back outside, where it’s turned to liquid again and the cycle continues. If you’re following along here, you can see that if you just reversed this process, you could theoretically use the same idea to also blow hot air INSIDE your house during the winter. Some systems are set up to do this, and they’re very neat!
Latest Answers