A refrigerant gives up heat when:

• A. It vaporizes
• B. It sublimates
• C. It condenses
• D. It freezes

Answer: (C)

Heat is released when a refrigerant changes from gas to liquid. In a vapor‑compression cycle, the hot, high‑pressure refrigerant gas enters the condenser and, as it cools, condenses into a liquid. This phase change releases latent heat to the surroundings, which is the heat you feel being rejected by the condenser. Vaporizing would require absorbing heat, sublimating is a solid–to–gas change not typical in this part of the cycle, and freezing is a liquid–to–solid change, not the process occurring in the condenser. So condensation is the process that gives up heat.