Final answer:
Air conditioners are judged by their efficiency, measured by their Coefficient of Performance (COP), which is the ratio of heat removed from a cold space to the work required. Higher COP signifies greater efficiency. Therefore, teh correct answer is b) Efficiency.
Step-by-step explanation:
The quality by which air conditioners are judged is essentially their efficiency, which is often expressed in terms of a Coefficient of Performance (COP). In the case of air conditioners, the COP is defined as the amount of heat transfer from a cold environment (Qc) compared with the amount of work input (W) required.
This can be represented as COPref = Qc / W. A higher COP indicates a more efficient unit as it requires less work to transfer a certain amount of heat from the conditioned space.
It's important to note that this efficiency can be influenced by several factors, including the temperature difference between the inside and outside environments, and the specific characteristics of the air conditioning unit itself.
In thermodynamics, the first law helps us understand the relationships among heat, work, and internal energy, which is essential in evaluating air conditioner performance.