🔍 Key Concepts

• Superheat: what it means (temperature of vapor above its saturation/boiling temperature at a given pressure) • How refrigerant changes state as it moves through evaporator, compressor, condenser, and receiver • Where in the cycle the refrigerant is all vapor vs all liquid or mixture

💭 Think About

• Trace the refrigerant flow in order: evaporator → compressor → condenser → receiver. At each point, ask: is it mostly liquid, mostly vapor, or mixed? • Think about where superheat begins to form and where it keeps increasing as long as you keep adding heat to a vapor. • Ask yourself: in which component does the refrigerant vapor gain the most temperature rise above its saturation temperature?

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify at which choice locations the refrigerant should be saturated or nearly saturated liquid (very little or no superheat). • Identify where the refrigerant is low-pressure vapor and where it is high-pressure vapor—superheat is measured on the vapor side, not the liquid side. • Confirm which component’s outlet has refrigerant that has just finished absorbing heat in the space being cooled versus where it has just been compressed.