Magnification and Resolution

• diameter on photograph = real diameter x magnification
• Magnification = making something larger
• resolution = the ability to distinguish between two separate points (how blurry an image is)
• Transmission Electron microscope (Invented 1933): higher resolution, higher magnification - 2,000,000x, much more detailed pictures, expensive and difficult to manage
• Light microscope (invented 16th century): lower resolution, lower magnification x2000 max, easy to use, not too expensive
• A light microscope uses a beam of light to form an image of the specimen
• a light microscope's maximum magnification is x2000
• a light microscope's maximum resolution is 200nm
• a light microscope uses specimen which are alive and can be observed under a microscope
• A light microscope does not take up much space and is relatively cheap as well as easy to use
• A transmission electron microscope used a beam of electrons to form an image of the specimen
• a transmission electron microscope's maximum magnification is around x2,000,000
• a transmission electron microscope's maximum resolution is 0.2nm
• the specimen has to be dead for a transmission electron microscope for it to be able to create an image
• A transmission electron microscope takes up a lot of space as it is very large, it is very expensive to buy and require a bit of expertise and needs to be kept in certain conditions
• A scanning electron microscope uses a beam of electrons to from an image of the specimen
• a scanning electron miicroscope's maximum magnification is around x500,000 and its maximum resolution is 10nm.
• The specimen needs to be dead for the scanning electron microscope for it to be able to form an image of the specimen
• A scanning electron microscope takes up lots of space, is exceedingly expensive and is not portable. It also requires a lot of knowledge to be able to use it
• size of real object = size of image/ magnification