Basic Principle Of Air Conditioning
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The basic principle at work in a climate control system is heat transfer. An automotive A/C system takes heat inside the passenger compartment and transfers it outside.
In an A/C system, heat is transferred using a refrigerant. The refrigerant absorbs heat from air entering the passenger compartment, carries the heat outside the compartment, releases the heat, and then re-enters the compartment to begin the cycle again.
An A/C system does not "add cold" to air - it removes some of the heat from it. Some heat is always present, but the less heat the air contains, the cooler it feels.