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Headspace analysis is a technique for sampling and examining the volatiles in a solid or liquid sample. The term headspace refers to the volume of vapor above a condensed phase sample. For most headspace analyses, the sample and its associated headspace are held within an enclosed container. It is often the volatiles that are of primary importance when, for example, the chemical composition of the mixture giving rise to the aroma of the sample is to be determined. In other circumstances, examination of the headspace rather than the condensed phase sample greatly decreases the analytical complications that are often apparent as a result of from a complex matrix and still gives information relating to the whole sample.