A calorimeter is a device used for calorimetry, or the process of measuring the heat of chemical reactions or physical changes as well as heat capacity. Differential scanning calorimeters, isothermal micro calorimeters, titration calorimeters and accelerated rate calorimeters are among the most common types. A simple calorimeter just consists of a thermometer attached to a metal container full of water suspended above a combustion chamber. It is one of the measurement devices used in the study of thermodynamics, chemistry, and biochemistry.

To find the enthalpy change per mole of a substance A in a reaction between two substances A and B, the substances are separately added to a calorimeter and the initial and final temperatures (before the reaction has started and after it has finished) are noted. Multiplying the temperature change by the mass and specific heat capacities of the substances gives a value for the energy given off or absorbed during the reaction. Dividing the energy change by how many moles of A were present gives its enthalpy change of reaction.

$${\displaystyle q=C_{\text{v}}(T_{f}-T_{i})}$$ where q is the amount of heat according to the change in temperature measured in joules and C_v is the heat capacity of the calorimeter which is a value associated with each individual apparatus in units of energy per temperature (joules/kelvin).

In 1761 Joseph Black introduced the idea of latent heat which led to the creation of the first ice calorimeters. In 1780, Antoine Lavoisier used the heat released by the respiration of a guinea pig to melt snow surrounding his apparatus, showing that respiratory gas exchange is a form of combustion, similar to the burning of a candle. Lavoisier named this apparatus 'calorimeter', based on both Greek and Latin roots. One of the first ice calorimeters was used in the winter of 1782–83 by Lavoisier and Pierre-Simon Laplace. It relied on the heat required for the melting of ice to measure the heat released in various chemical reactions.

An adiabatic calorimeter is a calorimeter used to examine a runaway reaction. Since the calorimeter runs in an adiabatic environment, any heat generated by the material sample under test causes the sample to increase in temperature, thus fueling the reaction.

No adiabatic calorimeter is fully adiabatic - some heat will be lost by the sample to the sample holder. A mathematical correction factor, known as the phi-factor, can be used to adjust the calorimetric result to account for these heat losses. The phi-factor is the ratio of the thermal mass of the sample and sample holder to the thermal mass of the sample alone.

A reaction calorimeter is a calorimeter in which a chemical reaction is initiated within a closed insulated container. Reaction heats are measured and the total heat is obtained by integrating heat flow versus time. This is the standard used in industry to measure heats since industrial processes are engineered to run at constant temperatures.^{[citation needed]} Reaction calorimetry can also be used to determine maximum heat release rate for chemical process engineering and for tracking the global kinetics of reactions. There are four main methods for measuring the heat in reaction calorimeter:

The cooling/heating jacket controls either the temperature of the process or the temperature of the jacket. Heat is measured by monitoring the temperature difference between heat transfer fluid and the process fluid. In addition, fill volumes (i.e. wetted area), specific heat, heat transfer coefficient have to be determined to arrive at a correct value. It is possible with this type of calorimeter to do reactions at reflux, although it is very less accurate.