Department of Materials Science and Engineering

The Differential Thermal Analyzer (DTA) is closely related to the DSC. While the DSC measures mass as a function of temperature, the DTA measures the difference in temperature between a sample and reference, as a function of temperature. The basic configuration consists of a sample holder, reference holder and two thermocouples which sit inside a furnace heated by electrical resistance. The difference in temperature can be attributed to properties such as heating rate, mass of the sample and the heat capacity. These properties will contribute to a lag in the temperature between the sample and the reference while heating. If the difference in temperature is negative then the sample is requiring more heat that the reference sample is, to raise its temperature. If the difference in temperature is positive, then the reference sample is requiring more heat than the test sample.