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1.1 The Microscope in Cell Studies

Question Paper

Course CIE A Level Biology

Section 1. Cell Structure
Topic 1.1 The Microscope in Cell Studies
Difficulty Hard

Time allowed: 50
Score: /36
Percentage: /100

Page 1 of 9

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Question 1a
A student used a light microscope to view a specimen. They wanted to work out the actual size of the specimen, and decided
to use a stage micrometer, together with the ruler visible inside the eyepiece of the microscope (known as the eyepiece
graticule).
Outline why a stage micrometer is needed as well as the eyepiece graticule.
[2 marks]

Question 1b
Describe the steps required to calibrate the eyepiece graticule of a light microscope using a stage micrometer.
[3 marks]

Question 1c
Explain why the steps outlined in part (b) would need to be repeated when the student changes to a more powerful objective
lens.
[2 marks]

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Question 1d
Fig. 1 shows the appearance of the scale of a stage micrometer. The length of the whole scale is 1.00 mm. Point A shows the
point at which the edge of a human cheek cell appears in the microscope display. A typical cheek cell has diameter of
approximately 50 μm.

Fig. 1
Indicate on Fig. 1, with an arrow labelled B, the position of the opposite edge of the cheek cell.
[1 mark]

Question 2a
Biologists use two main types of microscope to examine cellular structure: optical microscopes and electron microscopes.

Give two advantages and two limitations of using electron microscopes to investigate cell structure.
[4 marks]

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Question 2b
Fig. 1 shows an electron micrograph of part of an intestinal epithelial cell.

Fig. 1
Name the structures labelled X.
[1 mark]

Question 2c
Use the scale bar to calculate the magnification of the drawing in Fig. 1.Show your working.
[2 marks]

Question 2d
Explain why an electron microscope gives a more detailed image of cell ultrastructure than a light microscope.
[2 marks]

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Question 3a
Describe how you could make a temporary mount of a piece of plant tissue to observe the position of starch grains in a cell
when using a light microscope.
[4 marks]

Question 3b
Fig. 1 shows two micrographs of blood cells.

Photo by Dr. Mae Melvin, CC0, via pixnio.com Photo by Janice Carr, CC0, via pixnio.com

Fig. 1
Compare the images shown by the two micrographs.
[1 mark]

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Question 3c
(i)
State the role of the cell type visible in Fig. 1.
[1]
(ii)
Explain the adaptations of these cells.
[3]
[4 marks]

Question 3d
A student doctor wanted to take a number of different measurements from a sample of blood cells in a blood smear.
They used a light microscope, along with an eyepiece graticule, as part of their method but they did not use a stage
micrometer.
Identify the type of error this would lead to and explain the effect on their data.
[3 marks]

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Question 4a
Fig. 1 shows a photomicrograph of a transverse section through part of a stem.

Doc. RNDr. Josef Reischig, CSc., CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Fig. 1

Draw a large tissue plan diagram of this part of the stem. Note that tissue plant diagrams show the areas of different tissue
within a specimen.
[4 marks]

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Question 4b
Fig. 2 below shows the stage micrometer scale that was used to calibrate an eyepiece graticule in a light microscope. The
upper scale is the micrometer while the lower scale is the eyepiece graticule.
The length of one division on this stage micrometer is 0.01 mm.
Note that one division is the distance between two adjacent vertical lines on either scale.

Fig. 2
Using this stage micrometer, calculate the actual length of one eyepiece graticule division. Give your answer in µm and show
your working.
[2]
[2 marks]

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Question 4c
The photomicrograph below in Fig. 3 was taken using the same microscope with the same lenses as part (b).
The same eyepiece graticule was also used and is shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3
Use the calibration of the eyepiece graticule unit from part (b) and the information in the photomicrograph to estimate the
actual length in μm of the region of plant tissue shown between A and B.
[1 mark]

Page 9 of 9

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