DSC Thermal Analysis Simulator

Sample

Scan control

Heating rate 10 °C/min

Sample temperature

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Heat flow

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ΔH melting

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Elapsed time

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How it works

Differential scanning calorimetry heats a tiny sample and an inert reference side by side at the same programmed rate, and measures the extra heat flow needed to keep the sample's temperature tracking the reference. Any thermal event in the sample shows up as a deviation from the flat baseline.

Glass transition (T_g) — a step in the baseline, not a peak: the amorphous fraction's heat capacity jumps as chains gain mobility.
Melting — an endothermic peak (traced downward here): the crystal lattice absorbs latent heat to break apart.
Cold crystallization — an exothermic peak (traced upward): chains that were frozen in a disordered state release heat as they order into crystallites on warming.

heat flow ∝ dH/dt = (dH/dT)·(dT/dt)
ΔH (J/g) = ∫ (flow − baseline) dT / heating rate

Because heat flow scales with the heating rate but the temperature axis is also swept faster, the peak grows taller at high rates while the integrated enthalpy ΔH stays close to constant — exactly as on a real instrument. Switch sample type to compare a sharp-melting crystalline solid, a purely amorphous polymer that only shows T_g, and a semi-crystalline polymer that shows all three effects in one scan.

DSC curve Baseline Scanned region