Can you weigh a substance using an evaporating dish on an analytical balance?

Question

anonymous · Answer

I think so - I believe that those balances have the option of you first putting down the evaporating dish, then pressing the button to clear the mass displayed - then you can put the substance down onto the evaporating dish and get the actual mass of only the substance. If you can't do this exactly then you also have the option of knowing the evaporating dish's mass before-hand, placing the evap.dish along with the substance on the balance and THEN minus the mass of the evap.dish from what the balance says. 

If there is NO way to know the mass of the evap dish or substance separately, then i don't think you can weigh a substance using an analytical balance.