Your car's air conditioning system

In order to understand how air conditioning works, it is necessary to understand several basic laws about the flow of heat. While it may seem puzzling to talk about heat in the same breath as air conditioning, heat is your only concern. An air conditioner does not cool the air, but rather removes the heat from a confined space.

The law of entropy states that all things must eventually come to the same temperature; there will always be a flow of heat between adjacent objects that are at different temperatures. When two objects at different temperatures are placed next to each other, heat will flow from the warmer of the two objects to the cooler one. The rate at which heat is transferred depends on how large the difference is between their temperatures. If the temperature difference is great, the transfer of heat will be great, and if the temperature difference lessens, the transfer of heat will be reduced until both objects reach the same temperature. At that point, heat transfer stops.

Because of entropy, the interior of an automobile tends to remain at approximately the same temperature as the outside air. To cool an automobile interior, you have to reverse the natural flow of heat, no matter how thoroughly insulated the compartment might be. The heat which the body metal and glass absorb from the outside must constantly be removed.

So...  In easier to understand terms, the hotter the outside temperature, the harder your air conditioner has to work to keep the heat out.  In Oklahoma we have some very hot days.  The variance between outside temperature and the interior temperature of your automobile will vary based on humidity and other factors.  Be sure and press the recirculate button on your A/C console if its super hot outside.