Microscope Lab Results

I have used Microscopes before, but I realized that it has been quite a long time.


<- This is what I saw at 4x. It was a basic onion root cell.





This is what I saw at 10x. I started to see more of the internal ->
cell structure. Very interesting!







<- And this is what I saw at 40x. Complete internal cell structure.
Ironically, for me, 40x was a way better view then 100x.


I found it easier to adjust things looking through it =)


What each piece does: The stage is the plate that holds your specimen slide, you use the course and fine focus knobs to focus the image, the iris is used to let in light, you adjust the oculars so that you can see the image, and the objectives let you see the specimen at different magnifications (i.e. 4x, 10x, 40x, 100x).

A little history: The first compound microscope was invented around 1595 by Zacharias Janssen in Middleburg, Holland. It's magnification only ranged from 3x to 9x. It was later improved by Robert Hooke around 1660. In 1665, Mr. Hooke used the word "cell" to describe the plant tissues he viewed through the microscope, and two years later discovered why we need oxygenation in the respiratory system. During that time Anton van Leeuwenhoek, a man who made microscopes for a living, was the first to describe bacteria and protozoans. He also helped prove that blood does circulate through the body.

Types of microscopes:
Compound- uses light, images are 2D, allows you to view individual cells.
Dissection- uses light, images are 3D, allows you to view larger specimens such as earthworms.
Scanning Electron
- SEM- uses electrons, images are 3D, exterior views, images are black and white
- TEM- uses electrons, images are 2D, internal views, images are black and white