The Automatic Melting Point Apparatus is the latest technology for microprocessor-based determinations of melting point ranges of crystalline, powdered and polymeric materials, and is used to assess sample purity. Requires approximately 5mg of sample spread uniformly on a glass slide, covered with a glass coverslip. The slide is placed on a uniformly heated, round furnace and subjected to a heating profile as required by the user. Precise temperature control gives reproducible results to within 1%. The unit contains an automatic temperature safety cut-off feature if no melting points are detected 15°C above the expected melting point or if the oven reaches 315°C. The melting process is magnified, recorded, and viewed on-screen in real-time by a CCD camera. The change in physical appearance of the sample with respect to temperature is recorded, and the start/end of melting is observed automatically. A representation of the entire process can be printed out in graphical form for validation.