How does an air conditioner truly work? - Anna Rothschild episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 15, 2026 · 7 MIN

How does an air conditioner truly work? - Anna Rothschild

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Dig into the science of how heat pumps both heat and cool a home, and find out the benefits and drawbacks of this technology.--Typically, with any piece of technology, you pump one unit of energy in and you get about one out. That’s just the first law of thermodynamics: energy has to be conserved. But there’s a piece of technology called a heat pump, where for every bit of energy you put in, you get three to five times as much heat out. What wizardry is this? Anna Rothschild investigates the science of heat pumps.Lesson by Anna Rothschild, directed by Kevin Herrmann, AIM Creative Studios.This video made possible in collaboration with Speed & ScaleLearn more about how TED-Ed partnerships work: https://bit.ly/TEDEdPartnerSupport Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-tech-that-seems-to-break-the-laws-of-physics-anna-rothschildDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-tech-that-seems-to-break-the-laws-of-physics-anna-rothschild/digdeeperAnimator's website: https://aimcreativestudios.comMusic: https://soundcloud.com/aim-music----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Eric Braun, Sonja Worzewski, Michael Clement, Adam Berry, Ghaith Tarawneh, Nathan Milford, Tomas Beckett, Alice Ice, Eric Berman, Kurt Paolo Sevillano, Jennifer Heald, Megulo Abebe, isolwi, Kate Sem, Ujjwal Dasu, Angel Alberici, Minh Quan Dinh, Sylvain, Terran Gimpel, Talia Sari, Katie McDowell, Allen, Mahina Knuckles, Charmaine Hanson, Thawsitt, Jezabel, Abdullah Abdulaziz, Xiao Yu, Melissa Suarez, Brian A. Dunn, Francisco Amaya, Daisuke Goto, Matt Switzler, Peng, Tzu-Hsiang, Bethany Connor, Jeremy Shimanek, Mark Byers, Avinash Amarnath, Xuebicoco, Rayo, Po Foon Kwong, Boffin, Jesse Jurman, Scott Markley, Elija Peterson, Ovidiu Mrd, paul g mohney, Steven Razey, Nathan Giusti and Helen Lee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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How does an air conditioner truly work? - Anna Rothschild

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