# How does an air conditioner truly work? - Anna Rothschild

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/ted-ed-7859430/how-does-an-air-conditioner-truly-work-anna-rothschild
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/ted-ed-7859430/how-does-an-air-conditioner-truly-work-anna-rothschild.md
Podcast: [TED-Ed](https://stenobird.com/podcast/ted-ed-7859430)
Published: 2026-07-11T12:30:00+00:00
Episode link: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/VG9310059125.mp3
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/VG9310059125.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/ted-ed-7859430/episodes/how-does-an-air-conditioner-truly-work-anna-rothschild
Duration seconds: 458

## Resource

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 B…

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/ted-ed-7859430/episodes/how-does-an-air-conditioner-truly-work-anna-rothschild/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/ted-ed-7859430/how-does-an-air-conditioner-truly-work-anna-rothschild.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.