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Microscopy
GCSE AQA Biology Foundation Biology Higher
Combined Science Foundation Combined Science Higher
Microscopy Revision
Microscopy
Cells are too small to see with the human eye, but
thanks to the development of technology, we are able to
view cells and even their subcellular structures under
microscopes.
Microscopes
Light microscopes use light and lenses to create a
magnified image of a specimen. Their development
enabled scientists to view individual cells and their
larger subcellular structures such as nuclei. Light
microscopes have been further developed, with
improved magnification and resolution, but typically
have a maximum magnification of only ×1500 and
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resolutions of up to 0.2 μm. This means that the amount
of detail that can be seen via a light microscope is
limited.
Electron microscopes have much greater magnification
and resolving power because they use electron beams
instead of light which have a much smaller wavelength.
The development of the electron microscope allowed
scientists to see cells in much more detail including the
internal structures of mitochondria, chloroplasts and
nuclei, and tiny structures like ribosomes and plasmids.
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Note:
‘Resolution’ or ‘Resolving power’ is just the ability to
distinguish between two points. You can think of
resolution in the context of a photograph – if you enlarge
the image, after a certain point you will not be able to
see any more detail and it just becomes more blurry.
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Magnification
The magnification of an image can be calculated by a
simple formula:
Size of the image
Magnification =
Actual size of object
This formula can be rearranged to find the size of an
image or an object.
An easy way to do this is by using this formula triangle:
Just cover up the part of the triangle you want to find
and follow the equation that is left behind.
Example: A student measures an image of a cell using
a ruler. It is 55
mm wide and the image has been
magnified by a factor of ×5000. What is the actual
width of the cell in μm?
Use the formula triangle to work out what calculation to
do. Cover up the ‘actual size’ portion of the triangle and
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notice that what remains is image size divided by
magnification.
Image size
Actual size =
Magnification
Substitute the numbers from the question into the
equation:
55
Actual size = = 0.011 mm
5000
To convert the answer into m you need to times by μ
1000 because there are 1000 m in a mm (more on this μ
in other topics).
0.011 × 1000 = 11 μm
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Standard Form
Questions may also ask you to give an answer in
standard form. This is just an easier way of writing a
number when it is really big or really small and so has
lots of zeros in it.
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In order to convert to standard form you move the
decimal point, left or right, until it is a number between 1
and 10. The number of places the decimal point has
moved is represented by a power of 10. If the decimal
point moves left the the power will be positive and if it
moves to the right it will be negative.
Example:
0.00023 in standard form would be 2.3 × 10−4 as get
to 2.3 the decimal point moves 4 places to the right.
46000000 in standard form would be 4.6 × 107 as to
get to 4.6 the decimal point moves 7 places to the left.
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Required Practical
Using a light microscope to draw and label a cell with
a magnification scale.
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Prepare the slide
1. Add a drop of water to a
clean slide.
2. Carefully extract the cells
of interest and place them
on the slide, in the water –
common choices are
human cheek cells
(animal) and onion
epidermal cells (plant).
3. Highlight the cells using
an appropriate stain
(Iodine for onion cells and
methylene blue for cheek
cells).
4. Finally, place a cover slip
over the top of the
specimen.
View slide under the light
microscope
1. Carefully place the slide
onto the stage and clip it
in place.
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2. Select the objective lens
with the lowest power and
therefore lowest
magnification.
3. While looking down the
eyepiece, move the stage
up and down using the
coarse adjustment knob
until the image becomes
more focussed.
4. Use the fine-adjustment
knob to further focus the
image until it is clear.
5. Switch to a higher
powered objective lens
and refocus if greater
magnification is required.
Drawing your findings
1. Biological drawings
should be scientific so
draw what you see down
the microscope with clear
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unbroken lines and in the
correct proportions.
2. Label the different cell
structures with clear
straight lines, add a title
and state the
magnification that the cell
was observed under.
Create and add a scale bar to
the drawing
1. Clip an eyepiece graticule
to the top of the slide and
select the ×100 objective
lens on the microscope.
2. Line the cells up and
count how many fit along
1 mm on the eyepiece
graticule.
3. Divide 1 (mm) by the
number of cells counted
to find the length of one
cell and add this to the
drawing.
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AQA
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Microscopy Example Questions
Question 1: Name an advantage of using an electron
microscope over a light microscope.
[1 mark]
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Biology Higher AQA
Electron microscopes have much greater magnification
and resolving power so smaller subcellular structures
can be viewed in great detail and studied e.g.
ribosomes, plasmids and the internal structures of
mitochondria, chloroplasts and nuclei.
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Question 2: A specimen is 38 μm long. It is viewed
under a microscope with a magnification of × 100.
Calculate the length of the image produced in mm.
[2 marks]
GCSE Combined Science Foundation
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Biology Higher AQA
Image size = magnification × real size
Image size = 100 × 38 = 3800 μm
3800 μm = 3.8 mm
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Question 3: Describe how a student would prepare a
slide of onion cells, ready to be viewed under a light
microscope.
[3 marks]
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Add a drop of water to a slide then carefully extract the
onion cells and place them in the water on the slide.
Then stain the cells with iodine to make them more
visible and place a cover slip over the top.
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Microscopy Worksheet and Example
Questions
Microscopy Questions
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