In the evaporator, the refrigerant absorbs latent heat from the space which causes it to

• A. Release latent heat to the space
• B. Absorb latent heat from the space
• C. Absorb sensible heat
• D. There is no heat transfer

Answer: (B)

In the evaporator, the working refrigerant is cooler than the space you’re cooling, so heat naturally flows from the space into the refrigerant. That energy doesn’t just raise the refrigerant’s temperature much; instead it drives a phase change from liquid to vapor. The energy required for this change of state is latent heat of vaporization. Because of this, the evaporator removes heat from the space efficiently, and the refrigerant leaves as a low-pressure vapor. So the correct description is that the refrigerant absorbs latent heat from the space.