Microscopy

Cells are studies using…

Microscopes

Microscopes use lenses to…

magnify images (make them look bigger)

Microscopes increase the…

resolution of an image

Resolution

How clearly you can see the detail in an image; The ability of a microscope to distinguish two points that are close together

A higher resolution means…

images can be seen more closely and in more detail

Light microscopes

• Invented in the 1590s

• Use light and lenses to form a magnified image of a specimen

• They let us see things like nuclei and chloroplasts

• We can also use them to study living cells

Electron microscopes

• Invented in the 1930s

• They have a higher magnification and resolution so they let us see much smaller things in more detail like the internal structure of mitochondria and chloroplasts

• Allowed us to have a much greater understanding of how cells work and the role of subcellular structures (although they can’t be used to see living cells)