Microscopy Fundamentals

Study Notes

Magnification is the enlargement of an object.
Resolution is the ability of a microscope to distinguish between two closely spaced objects.

Ideal for viewing live cells and large structures like nuclei or chloroplasts.
Easy to use, can view live specimens, and is inexpensive.
Lower magnification and resolution, unable to view smaller organelles like ribosomes or membrane structures.

Electron microscopes are more expensive.
Light microscopes show color, electron microscopes show black and white.
Specimens must be dead to view under an electron microscope, whereas they can be alive or dead for light microscopes.

Eyepiece Lens: The lens you look through, typically has a magnification of 10x.
Objective Lenses: Multiple lenses with varying magnifications, such as low, medium, and high power.
Stage: The platform where the slide with the specimen is placed.
Stage Clips: Secure the slide in place.
Coarse Focus Knob: Makes large adjustments to the focus.
Fine Focus Knob: Makes small adjustments to focus.
Diaphragm: Controls the amount of light reaching the specimen.
Light Source: Provides illumination for viewing the specimen.
Base: The bottom of the microscope, providing stability.
Arm: Connects the base to the body tube, provides support.

The total magnification is calculated by multiplying the magnification of the eyepiece lens by the magnification of the selected objective lens.
For example, an eyepiece lens with 10x magnification and a high-power objective lens with 40x magnification would result in a total magnification of 400x (10x * 40x = 400x).

Standard form is used to express very large or very small numbers in a concise way.
It follows the format: (number between 1 and 9) x 10 ^ (power of 10).
The power of 10 indicates how many places the decimal point has been moved.
For example:
- 1,000,000 (one million) can be written in standard form as 1.0 x 10^6.
- 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 can be written in standard form as 1.0 x 10^27.