MICROSCOPY
Completion requirements
3. TYPES OF MICROSCOPE
Light microscopes
- Principle: Use light and a system of lenses to magnify images.
- Examples:
- Compound microscope: Uses multiple lenses for higher magnification, often used in labs and schools.
- Stereo (or dissecting) microscope: Provides a 3D view of larger, opaque objects, used for tasks like dissection or inspecting circuit boards.
- Fluorescence microscope: Uses fluorescent light to highlight specific parts of a specimen.
- Confocal microscope: Uses lasers to create high-resolution 3D images of fluorescently labeled specimens.
- Compound microscope: Uses multiple lenses for higher magnification, often used in labs and schools.
- Brightfield microscope: A common type that produces a dark image on a bright background.
Electron microscopes
Principle:
Use a beam of electrons instead of light to achieve much higher magnification and resolution. Cannot be used to view living cells.
Examples:
Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM): Transmits electrons through a thin specimen to create an image.
Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM): Scans a beam of electrons over a specimen's surface to create a detailed 3D image.
Scanning probe microscopes
Principle:
Use a physical probe that moves across the surface of a specimen to map its topography.
Examples:
Atomic Force Microscope (AFM): A type of scanning probe microscope that uses a physical probe to "feel" the surface of a specimen at an atomic level.