An air conditioner (AC) works by removing heat and moisture from the air inside a room or building and expelling it outside, leaving the air inside cooler and drier. The process works as follows:

1. The AC unit pulls warm air from the room through a grille or vent, using a fan.
2. The warm air passes over a series of cold, coiled pipes called the evaporator coil. The evaporator coil contains a refrigerant that absorbs heat from the warm air, cooling it down in the process.
3. The cooled air is blown back into the room through another grille or vent.
4. The heat absorbed by the refrigerant is then transported to the outdoor unit of the AC, called the condenser unit.
5. The condenser unit releases the heat from the refrigerant to the outside air, using a fan and a series of metal fins. This process creates hot air that is expelled from the unit.
6. The refrigerant, now cooled down again, is transported back to the evaporator coil inside the AC unit to continue the cooling process.

This process repeats itself continuously, with the AC unit cycling the refrigerant through the evaporator and condenser coils, and continually circulating and cooling the indoor air. The process also removes moisture from the air inside the room, as the warm, humid air is cooled on the evaporator coil, causing the moisture to condense into droplets that are collected in a pan or tray and drained outside.