The Principle of Light Applied in Microscope and How It Operates

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A microscope is an instrument used to see objects that are too small for the naked eye. The science of investigating small objects using such an instrument is called microscopy. Microscopic means invisible to the eye unless aided by a microscope. There are many types of microscopes, the most common and first to be invented is the optical microscope which uses light to image the sample. Other major types of microscopes are the electron microscope (both the transmission electron microscope and the scanning electron microscope) and the various types of scanning probe microscope. How does a microscope work? A microscope is an instrument that produces a clear magnified image of an object viewed through it. A microscope must be able not only to magnify objects sufficiently but also to resolve, or separate, the fine details of the object that are of interest to the viewer. In the optical microscope visible light rays, reflected from or transmitted by the viewed object, pass through a series of lenses and form an enlarged image of the object. This image is produced at the normal distance of clearest vision, which is about 10 inches, or 25 centimetres, from the eye of the viewer. The degree to which the fine details of an object can be resolved is limited by the wavelength of the light that is used. Thus, finer details can be resolved if ultraviolet light is used instead of visible light, and even more detail can be resolved by using X rays. The greatest magnification and resolution are provided by the electron microscope. In this device a beam of electrons is used instead of rays of visible light for examining the object. The basic form of microscope is the simple optical microscope. It consists of a single convex lens, or magnifying glass, or of a combination of lenses that has the same effect. The compound microscope, which is the most common type of optical

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