Why Does Compressed Air Cold

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Why does compressed air cold.

Most techs were stuck in a back building connected by a ma. Co2 cartridges are highly compressed cylinders of liquid carbon dioxide. Why does canned air get cold. Updated april 24 2017.

As the liquid co2 is released it turns into a gas and makes your cartridge ice cold. I m not even sure if the liquid is electrically conductive but it boils off in seconds anyway. If this is true why use compressed air. Why does the compressed air can get so cold when you use it.

If you compress it into a smaller space the energy also becomes more dense so the temperature has to rise at least temporarily. Why does the compressed air can get so cold when you use it. Long ago i was a pc tech at a slightly fly by night mom pop joint. I will take a stab at putting that in simple terms.

A pocket of gas sits at the top of the can preventing liquid from spraying out when the can is right side up. This frost all over the cylinder sort of cold is thermodynamics in action. Changing from a liquid phase to a gas phase requires energy. If you ve ever used a can of compressed air to blow dust out of your keyboard you ve experienced how quickly the can gets cold.

The lower you are closer to sea level the higher the pressure because there will be more air pressing down on you. The higher you are in this ocean the lower the pressure would be. Even a short blast is enough for frost to accumulate. If we take a look at our earth s surface and its atmosphere we can interpret it as a sea of air.