ABYC Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Certification Practice Exam

The term used for heat added to a vapor after all the liquid has been vaporized is superheat. This process occurs in a vapor when additional heat is introduced, raising its temperature above the saturation temperature for a given pressure. In the context of refrigeration and air conditioning, achieving superheat is important because it helps ensure that the refrigerant is in a completely gaseous state before entering the compressor, thereby preventing potential damage from liquid refrigerant.

Latent heat refers to the heat absorbed or released during a phase change, such as the process of vaporizing a liquid, but does not apply to heat absorbed after the substance has entirely transitioned to a vapor phase. Sensible heat involves a temperature change in a substance without a phase change, thus it is not specifically related to vaporization. Enthalpy is a more comprehensive measure of energy in a system, including both sensible and latent heat, but it does not specifically refer to the added heat after vaporization occurs. Therefore, the correct understanding of superheating within thermodynamic systems is crucial for proper operation and efficiency in HVAC applications.