| CPC G01N 33/246 (2013.01) [G01N 21/3581 (2013.01); G01N 21/552 (2013.01)] | 16 Claims |

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1. A hygroscopicity evaluation method for evaluating hygroscopicity of a measurement target object containing a clay mineral, comprising:
a first step of preparing a first sample containing a first clay mineral as the clay mineral and a second sample containing a second clay mineral, which is the same as the first clay mineral, as the clay mineral;
a second step of acquiring a first detection result for the first sample by making a first terahertz wave incident on the first sample and detecting the first terahertz wave from the first sample and a second detection result for the second sample by making a second terahertz wave incident on the second sample and detecting the second terahertz wave from the second sample; and
a third step of evaluating the hygroscopicity of the measurement target object based on a first frequency characteristic of the first sample calculated from the first detection result and a second frequency characteristic of the second sample calculated from the second detection result,
wherein, in the first step, at least one of the first and second samples is subjected to a water absorption/dehydration treatment to prepare samples having different hygroscopicity, and
in the third step, a magnitude of the hygroscopicity of the measurement target object is evaluated based on a difference between a magnitude of a first peak of the first frequency characteristic in a reference frequency range and a magnitude of a second peak of the second frequency characteristic in the reference frequency range.
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