ACCURACY AND PRECISION OF HEAT-CAPACITY MEASUREMENTS USING A HEAT-FLUX DIFFERENTIAL SCANNING CALORIMETER

The accuracy and precision of a Setaram DSC 121 for the measurement of heat capacities of solids in the continuous mode was tested using sap phire and benzoic acid. The influence of the heating rate, mass of sam ple, and position of the crucible in the measuring tube on the obtaine d results is discussed. In the temperature range studied (320-440 K fo r sapphire and 320-370 K for benzoic acid) the accuracy and precision of the determination, based on the average results of three independen t experiments, are better than 1% provided that adequate experimental conditions (large sample masses and low heating rates) and data handli ng procedures are used.