The Microscope

EARLY MICROSCOPES
 Leeuwenhoek made a
simple microscope
(mid 1600’s)
 magnified 270X
 Early microscope
lenses made images
larger but the image
was not clear

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 MODERN MICROSCOPES
• A microscope is simple or
compound depending on
how many lenses it
contains
• A lens makes an enlarged
image & directs light
towards you eye.
• A simple microscope has
one lens similar to a
magnifying glass

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 COMPOUND MICROSCOPE
• A compound microscope has
multiple lenses
– (eyepiece & objective
lenses)

STEREOMICROSCOPE
creates a 3D image

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 WHAT IS MAGNIFICATION?
• Magnification is the change in apparent
size produced by a microscope

Overall magnification = Objective lens x Eyepiece lens

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 TOTAL MAGNIFICATION
• Powers of the eyepiece (10X) multiplied by objective lenses
determine total magnification.

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 WHAT IS RESOLUTION?

• Resolution is the ability to distinguish

between two points on an image i.e. the
amount of detail
• Using a microscope with a more
powerful magnification will not increase
this resolution any further. It will
increase the size of the image, but
objects closer than 200nm will still only
be seen as one point.

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 ELECTRON MICROSCOPES

• More powerful; some can

magnify up to 1,000,000X
• Use a magnetic field in a
vacuum to bend beams of
electrons
• Images must be
photographed or
produced electronically

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 Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
Electron microscope image of a spider

 produces realistic 3D image

 only the surface of
specimen can be observed

Electron microscope image of a fly

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 Transmission Electron
Microscope (TEM)
• produces 2D image of thinly
sliced specimen
• detailed cell parts (only
inside a cell) can be
observed

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Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM)
• able to show
arrangement of
atoms

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 Making a microscope slide
using onion epidermis
Apparatus
Microscope, a glass slide, a cover slip, a pair of forceps and a piece of onion skin.

Method
 We cut open an onion and took a piece of very thin skin.
Placed this onto the middle of a microscope slide.
Put a drop of stain (methylene blue) and then place a thin
piece of glass called a cover slip on top of the onion skin and
gently pressed it flat.
After that we put the slide under a microscope with the
lens set at low magnification.
Turned the focus dial until you could clearly see the skin.
Used a pencil to draw what we saw and labelled it with the
magnification.

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 WHAT WILL YOU
SEE?
The higher the magnification we used
the bigger the cells became.

At 20 x At 50 x At 100 x
magnification magnification magnification

Close up of Nucleus Cell wall Cytoplasm

onion skin

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 Slides
Cell Types
Onion Cells
Elodea (100x, no iodine)
Elodea (430x, no iodine)
Cheek Cells
Red and White Blood Cells
Bacteria – Cocci (400x)
Bacteria – Bacilli (400x)
Bacteria – Spirillum (400x)
 •THE END

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