This paper examines the influence of residual pressures in the range from 10−5 to 5 torr on the course of thermal analysis. With the help of examples concerning in particular the thermolysis of gibbsite, A1(OH)3, it is shown that a) the control of residual pressure is of virtually no use unless the rate of decomposition isalso controlled (otherwise, the TG curves represent a composite phenomenon, which is practically unintelligible); b) the influence of residual pressure may be unexpectedly high both on the shape of the TG curves (and therefore on the apparent kinetic parameters) and on the nature (porosity, structure) of the products.