{c}

Norman V. Klassen is a <physicist> whose work with <Carl K. Ross> connects <water calorimetry>, <radiolysis> and <absorbed dose> measurement. Their 1997 study compared calculated <heat defects> with experimental observations, including independently measured chemical products. This comparison tests the physical model through more than its agreement with a single <temperature> rise.<Water Calorimetry: The Heat Defect by Norman V. Klassen and Carl K. Ross>[Printed p.63, byline, Abstract and Introduction]{ref}

The issue is that a water <calorimeter> measures a thermal response to <ionizing radiation>, whereas <absorbed dose> concerns deposited <energy> per unit mass. If $H=c_w\Delta T$ is the thermal <energy> per unit mass, the <heat defect> $k$ relates them by
$$
D=\frac{H}{1-k}.
$$
A useful sensitivity calculation follows directly. Holding $H$ fixed and differentiating with respect to $k$ gives
$$
\frac{\partial D}{\partial k}=\frac{H}{(1-k)^2},
\qquad
\frac{\delta D}{D}\simeq\frac{\delta k}{1-k}.
$$
For an illustrative $k=0.02$, an absolute change $\delta k=0.001$ changes the inferred <absorbed dose> by approximately $0.001/0.98$, or $0.102\%$. Thus improving <thermometer> precision alone cannot remove the contribution of an uncertain <heat defect> to <measurement uncertainty>. The example is a local sensitivity estimate, rather than an uncertainty budget for their apparatus.<Water Calorimetry: The Heat Defect by Norman V. Klassen and Carl K. Ross>[Printed p.63, Eq1, from which the sensitivity calculation follows]{ref}

In 2002, Klassen and <Carl K. Ross> reported that a literature <reaction rate constant> used in their earlier model was incorrect and supplied a revised model. Their correction also compared model predictions with calorimetric and chemical-product measurements. It illustrates why the inputs to a <computer simulation> are part of the scientific claim: agreement must be reassessed when those inputs are corrected.<Water Calorimetry: A Correction to the Heat Defect Calculations by Norman V. Klassen and Carl K. Ross>[Printed p.171, Abstract and Introduction]{ref}


 Norman V. Klassen (source code)