Air Conditioner -
an air refrigerator with a room or a building as the refrigerated space or food compartment

Carnot Cycle -
a reversible cycle proposed by French scientist Sadi Carnot that is composed of four reversible processes in a closed, steady state system where two of the processes are isothermal and two adiabatic

Coefficient of Performance (COP) -
this is defined as the fraction of the desired output over the required input of the air conditioner

EER (Energy Efficiency Rating) -
a rating set in the United States for the performance of air conditioner; defined as the amount of heat removed in BTUs (British Thermal Units) for 1 Wh (Watt-hour) of electricity consumed
EER Definition
(Source: Natural Resources Canada's Booklet Air Conditioning Your Home)
Reproduced with the Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2001

Thermal Efficiency -
the fraction of heat input that is converted to net work output; used as a measure of performance for a heat engine





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