Source: Danielle N. Beatty and Taylor D. Sparks, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is an important measurement to characterize thermal properties of materials. DSC is used primarily to calculate the amount of heat stored in a material as it heats up (heat capacity) as well as the heat absorbed or released during chemical reactions or phase changes. However, measurement of this heat can also lead to the calculation of other important properties such as glassy transition temperature, polymer crystallinity, and more. Due to the long, chain-like nature of polymers it is not uncommon for polymer strands to be entangled and disordered. As a result, most polymers are only partially crystalline with the remainder of the polymer being amorphous. In this experiment we will utilize DSC to determine polymer crystallinity.