Question

A window air conditioner is brought into the center of a dorm room and turned on. After several minutes, the temperature of the room:

• A. increases
• B. decreases
• C. remains constant
• D. depends on the brand of the AC

Answer 1

The correct option is A increases

Air conditioners only work if you put them in the window, so they can eject heat from the room into the great outdoors. Any power input to the air conditioner (from you electrical supply) is turned into heat that is output, thereby increasing the room temperature. Mathematically, the heat rejected into the room, $Q_1=W+Q_2$, where $Q_2$ is the heat gained from the refrigerator and W the work input. Similarly, ou can't cool your kitchen by opening the fridge door.