In DSC, heat flux difference between sample and reference is measured as function of temperature while temperature of sample and reference are maintained the same. DSC is often used for polymer analysis.
What I am not clear is how does DSC differentiate between exothermic and endothermic changes like for example crystalline and melting point of polymer since in both state changes temperature of sample remains the same? In both cases, to keep both sample and reference at the same temperature, heat flux for reference is going to decrease because if not temperature of reference would become bigger than of sample since we are giving latent heat to the sample.
