Editing Differential scanning calorimetry (section)

==DSC curves==
[[Image:CalibratingDSCcurve.png|frame|Top: A schematic DSC curve of amount of energy input (y) required to maintain each temperature (x), scanned across a range of temperatures. Bottom: Normalized curves setting the initial heat capacity as the reference. Buffer-buffer baseline (dashed) and protein-buffer variance (solid).]]
[[Image:2and3stDSCcurves.png|frame|Normalized DSC curves using the baseline as the reference (left), and fractions of each conformational state (y) existing at each temperature (right), for two-state (top), and three-state (bottom) proteins. Note the minuscule broadening in the peak of the three-state protein's DSC curve, which may or may not appear statistically significant to the naked eye.]]

The result of a DSC experiment is a curve of heat flux versus temperature or versus time. There are two different conventions: exothermic reactions in the sample shown with a positive or negative peak, depending on the kind of technology used in the experiment. This curve can be used to calculate [[enthalpy|enthalpies of transitions]]. This is done by integrating the peak corresponding to a given transition. It can be shown that the enthalpy of transition can be expressed using the following equation:

<math>\Delta H = K A</math>

where <math>\Delta H</math> is the enthalpy of transition, <math>K</math> is the calorimetric constant, and <math>A</math> is the area under the curve. The calorimetric constant will vary from instrument to instrument, and can be determined by analyzing a well-characterized sample with known enthalpies of transition.<ref name=Pugnor/>