Section 1
Exercises: Things Engineers Think About
What are the temperatures inside the fresh food and freezer compartments of your refrigerator? Do you know what values are recommended for these temperatures?
You have a refrigerator located in your garage. Does it perform differently in the summer than in the winter? Explain.
Does it make sense to say that a room air conditioner refrigerates the room?
If it takes about $335 \mathrm{~kJ}$ to freeze $1 \mathrm{~kg}$ of water, how much ice could an ice maker having a 1-ton refrigeration capacity produce in 24 hours?
Abbe installs a dehumidifier to dry the walls of a small, closed basement room. When she enters the room later, it feels warm. Why?
Why does the indoor unit of a central air-conditioning system have a drain hose?
You recharge your automobile air conditioner with refrigerant from time to time yet seldom, if ever, your refrigerator. Why?
Would water be a suitable working fluid for use in a refrigerator?
Your new air conditioner has a label that lists an $E E R$ of $10 \mathrm{~kJ} / \mathrm{h}$ per watt. What does that mean?
Would you recommend a domestic heat pump for use in Duluth, Minnesota? In San Diego, California?
Which has the bigger diameter, the tube feeding a refrigerator compressor, called the suction line, or the line at the compressor discharge? Explain.
Can the coefficient of performance of a heat pump have a value less than one?
You see an advertisement for a natural gas-fired absorption refrigeration system. How can burning natural gas play a role in achieving cooling?