Microscope

A tool used to produce a magnified image of an object or specimen

The most import tool in the study of cell structure/cytology

Light Microscope
A compound microscope where the.. ray passing through a specimen brought to focus by
a set of glass convex lenses, namely condenser lens, objective lens and ocular lens to produce a magnified
image of a very small object
Condenser lens: . the visible light through the specimen thereafter produces a uniform light ray
that penetrate through the thin specimen // Increase the illumination through the
specimen
Objective and ocular lens (situated at the eyepiece): the light to give a . image
The resulting image can be seen by the human eye
The visible light used in the light microscope has a wavelength of about .. resulting the
maximum resolution of about .
In practice this gives a maximum magnification of about
In order for the organelle to be seen as a magnified image, the organelle must be large enough to interfere
with the light waves and can be seen e.g. chloroplast ( 3000nm in diameter). On the other hand, ribosomes
( 20nm in diameter) are too small to interfere with the light waves & thus cannot be seen under a light
microscope
Magnification of an image = Eyepiece Magnification X Objective lens magnification

Electron Microscope
is like a upside-down light microscope whereby the source of radiation (..) enters
at the top and the specimen is viewed at the bottom
Principles:
o A beam of . (with the average wavelength of ) emitted from a hot
cathode gun/electron gun
Electron beam gives a high resolving power of .
o The electron beam is then focused by ..
o The inside of the chamber has to be kept under a high .. to prevent the electrons from
colliding with the .. and be scattered.
o The electron beam then pass through an .. dehydrated sections of dead specimen
o Only very thin sections of material or very small particles can be observed because electron are
easily absorbed by larger objects. Those parts of the specimen which are more dense absorb
electrons ad appear darker in the final image.
o Density differences can be made greater by staining the specimen with .. e.g.
uranium, or lead acetate. The electrons are absorbed by the heavily stained parts but pass through
the lightly stained parts. This provides contrast between different parts of the specimen
o The electron beam will then be focused by objective lens and projector
lens to magnify the image formed.
o Electron cannot be seen with the human eye, so the image is made visible by shining the electrons
onto a .. to give a black-and-white picture or onto
a if permanent record of any interesting feature is required. A
photograph taken with an electron microscope is called electron micrograph
Differences of Light and Electron Microscope

Aspect Electron microscope Light Microscope

Radiation source
Wavelength
Max. resolution in practice
Max. useful magnification
Lenses
Specimen

Common stains
Image