Microscope Types

X-Ray Microscope for Solidification Studies in Metals

microscopetypes — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 11:45:04 +0000

The article dealt with the technique on how to openly or directly examine the solidification procedure or the process of turning the metal alloy to solid state instantaneously through the use of x-rays. This study is being done by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration most widely known as NASA and the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Center for Materials Research.

The article actually discussed the things that can be seen during the investigation and how the method is executed as well as the strategy of the researchers in performing this study. The process of x-ray microscopy involves the utilization of microfocus x-ray source to generate figures or images of the solid and liquid interface at times of solidification phase under proscribed conditions. The characteristics that have dimensions lower than ten micrometers are scrutinized and analyzed in real-time. The results of this major research are intended to manufacture more heavy-duty alloys, and compound or combined substances. By the way, alloy is uniform in composition all throughout and known as homogenous mixture of two or more metals. This is actually a lower value of a metal due to addition of another substance. All kinds of researches and experiments are intended to uncover the earlier hidden or unnoticed realms.

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X-Ray Microscope in Studying Malaria

microscopetypes — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 00:00:30 +0000

Microscopes are powerful enough to see the smallest of organisms that our naked eyes are not able to see. They are used to examine and understand the behaviors of microorganisms in order to determine the possibilities and degree of infections as well as medications that such microorganisms can develop. Microscopes however have different levels of magnification and uses, based on their structures, compositions and designs. There are microscopes that use electrons to illuminate and create an image of a specimen such as electron microscopes, while others use x-ray beams such as x-ray microscopes to produce these images.

This particular article deals with the use of an x-ray microscope in viewing and studying malaria-infected cells. Scientists experimented on the possible reactions of skin cancer cells and the malaria-infected cells. The powerful x-ray microscope does not only permit the viewing of the structure of the sliced tissues but also allows the observation of unsliced cells. No matter how thick the cells can be, the x-ray microscope is able to provide high-resolution images and good presentations of cell structures. Not all types of microscopes has the capability of doing such. Furthermore, the x-ray microscope permits analysis of the subcellular components of the tissues or cells by just directly monitoring them through it.

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Dissecting Microscope

microscopetypes — Thu, 31 May 2007 16:05:10 +0000

The dissecting microscopes usually use reflected light, bouncing off the surface of the specimen before reaching your eyes. It also allows you to perceive depth, because the two eyes see the specimen through separate lenses. The magnification of the dissecting microscope is not as great as the compound microscope. It does, however, enable the viewer to observe large specimens at a magnification up to 30X.

The head of the microscope, known as the power pod, has variable power magnification ranging from .7X to 3X. To calculate the magnification of your specimen, multiply the setting of the magnification knob by 10, the power of your eyepieces. Proper adjustments of interocular scale and diopter adjustment ring will achieve the same state of focus in the left and right eyepieces on the dissecting microscope just as they did for the compound scope.

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The Electron Microscope

microscopetypes — Thu, 31 May 2007 15:55:06 +0000

Electron microscopes are extremely sophisticated types of magnification devices. These are used in archaeology, medicine, and geology to look at surfaces and layers of objecs such as organs and rocks. Instead of using light, these devices point a stream of electrons at the specimen and attached computers analyze how the electrons are scattered by the material. The specimen must be suspended within a vacuum chamber. With transmission electron microscopes, a scientist gets a view of 2-D slices of the object at different depths. Of course, with such powerful instruments, both the degree of magnification and the resolution, or sharpness of the image, are very high. Scanning electron microscopes are slightly different in that they scan a gold-plated specimen to give a 3-D view of the surface of an object. This view is in black and white, yet gives an amazing picture of, for example, the minute hills and valleys of a dinosaur bone.

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Compound Light Microscope

microscopetypes — Thu, 31 May 2007 15:44:00 +0000

A compound light microscope has a white light source emitting rays that travel through the condenser lens to concentrate the light and focus it on the specimen. The specimen is located on a slide, which is placed on the stage of the microscope. The light passes through the specimen into the objective lens where the specimen image is magnified. The light continues up through the body tube and reaches the ocular lens where once again the image is magnified. Our compound microscope oculars have a magnification of 10X. To determine the specimen magnification, multiply the magnification number on the objective lens by 10. Example: When using the 40X objective multiply 40 (objective magnification) by 10 (ocular magnification). The total magnification of the specimen is 400 times. When you take notes about the appearance of a specimen, or when you draw what you see, always record the magnification you used to view it. Determine what magnifications are available on the objective lenses of your microscope. Record in your notebook the total magnifications possible with each lens. The light intensity required for good visual images differs from specimen to specimen. The light source has a switch with several fixed settings for light adjustments.

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Microscope Types

microscopetypes — Tue, 15 May 2007 06:34:21 +0000

Different types of microscopes have been used to look at human cells, identify minerals, solve crimes, see how freezing affects food, study metals, and find the causes of crop diseases. Microscopes are an essential tool in medicine too. They have been used to identify the causes of many deadly diseases like malaria and tuberculosis. Microscopes can also help to find out why a person or animal died. Scientists can even use a microscope to figure out where illegal drugs come from. For example, looking at opium crystals through a microscope reveals different shapes depending on where the poppies they came from were grown. This information can help pinpoint the source of illegal drugs. You can do all kinds of amazing things at home with a microscope. Try looking at plants, paper, cloth, sugar, pond water, even the odd flea. Lots of aquarium supply stores sell tiny shrimp, called brine shrimp, which are really interesting to look at through a microscope.

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