Air Conditioning Repair Certification (ETI) Practice Exam

Sensible heat is the type of heat that is associated with a change in temperature of a substance without a change in its phase. When sensible heat is added or removed from a system, it results in a measurable temperature change. For instance, when you heat water on a stove, the temperature of the water rises, indicating the transfer of sensible heat.

In contrast, latent heat refers to the heat energy required for a substance to change from one phase to another, such as from liquid to vapor or solid to liquid, without changing its temperature. Superheat involves heating a vapor past its saturation temperature, which relates to maintaining a gas state rather than altering temperature directly in the traditional sense. Conduction is the process of heat transfer through direct contact between materials, which can involve sensible heat transfer, but it does not define the type of heat directly responsible for temperature change. Thus, sensible heat is clearly the correct term to identify the type of heat that directly leads to temperature change.