🔍 Key Concepts

• Refrigeration cycle stages: evaporator, compressor, condenser, receiver/expansion device • Difference between latent heat (change of state) and sensible heat (change of temperature) • What happens to pressure, temperature, and phase of the refrigerant as it passes through the condenser

💭 Think About

• Think about the exact job of the condenser: when the hot refrigerant vapor enters, in what condition does it leave? • Ask yourself which types of heat must be removed to change the refrigerant from a high-pressure vapor to a liquid ready for the expansion device. • Consider whether the condenser removes only the heat that boils/condenses the refrigerant, or also any extra heat added earlier in the cycle.

✅ Before You Answer

• Identify where in the system latent heat of vaporization is absorbed and where it is rejected. • Decide whether heat of compression (the heating effect from the compressor) must be removed before the refrigerant can fully condense. • Check if superheated vapor entering the condenser has to be cooled (desuperheated) before or during condensation, and whether that counts as heat removed in the condenser.