If airplane cabins are pressurized to provide adequate oxygen for the passengers to breathe, what provides this compressed air? – EL
The air that you breathe inside an airplane is actually pumped into the cabin through the jet engines. The first component of a jet engine is a compressor that takes the low-density air outside and boosts its pressure and density. While most of this air then continues through the engine to the combustion chamber, part of it is diverted to the cabin. But before it can be released into the cabin, the air must be chilled by an air conditioner. That’s because compressing air adds energy to it and raises its temperature. The compressed air leaving the jet engine’s compressor is hot, even though no combustion has taken place yet. So the air is first cooled and then sent into the cabin.