2.1 Cell Structure Flashcards
What is a microscope? And what do they allow you to see,?
- it’s an instrument which allows you to magnify an object hundreds, thousands and even hundreds of thousands of times
- allow to see many unicelular organisms
Due to microscopes… what does the cell theory state?
- both plant and animal tissue is composed of cells
- cells are the basic unit of all life
- cells on develop from existing cells
Why is light microscopy important ?
- it is easily available
- relatively cheap
- it can be used out in the field and it can be used to observe living organisms as well as dead ones
How does a light Microscope work ?
- it has two lenses - the objective lense ( which is near the specimen ) and an eyepiece lens ( which is where the specimen is viewed )
- the objective lens produces a magnified image which is further magnified by the eyepiece lense
- illumination is caused from a light beneath
How is the beam focused with a light mirpcroscope?
- With the eyepiece and objective lense
How is the beam focused with a TEM / SEM microscope ?
- through the use of an electromagnetic lens which focuses electrons into a very fume beam
What is the maximum effective magnification of a light microscope, TEM and SEM?
Light - x2000
TEM/SEM - 1 million
What’s the maximum resolution of a light microscope, TEM and SEM ?
Light - 200nm
TEM - less than 1nm
SEM - 1-20nm
What microscopes can a live specimen be used?
Light only
NOT TEM/SEM ( must be dehydrated and in a vacuum )
What methods are used when preparing a microscope slide?
- dry mount
- wet mount
- squash slides
- smear slides
- staining
Explain dry mount in the preparation stage of microscopy?
- the specimen is placed on the centre of the slide and the cover slip is placed on top
Explain wet mount in the preparation stage of microscopy
- specimen are suspended in a liquid ( eg. water ) and then a cover slip is placed at an angle
- this allows for aquatic samples to be viewed
Explain squashing slide stage of microscopy
- a wet mount is first prepared
- then a lens tissue is Bentley pressed on the cover slip
- this prevents damage to the cover slip
- eg. Root tip squashes to look at cell division
Explain smear sliding stages of microscopy
- the edge of the slide is used to smear the sample which creates a thin coating on another slide
- the cover slip is then placed on top
- good way to view blood cells
Explain the use of staining in light microscopy ( include differential staining )
- Some cell components and cells are difficult to see unless they are stained a more obvious colour.
- Differential staining is a technique which involves many chemical stains being used to stain different parts of a cell in different colours.
what is magnification ( formula ) ?
magnification = size of image / size of real object
What is magnification ( definition ) ?
- how many times larger the image is than the actual size of the object
What is resolution ( definition ) ?
- The ability of a magnified image to determine between two separate points
How do you measure the size of a sample under a microscope?
- you use an eyepiece graticule
- it’s a large disc marked with a fine scale of 1 -100
- ( no units )
What’s the purpose of a stage micrometer?
- it’s a microscope slide with a very accurate scale in micrometers
Steps to calibrating are :
- Put the stage micrometer in place and the eyepiece graticule in the eyepiece
- Get the scale on the micrometer to focus
- Align the micrometer with the scale in the eyepiece
- The take readings from both scales
- Use them to calculate the measurements of the specimen
What is laser scanning microscopy ?
What is a cell ? And what are they types?
- it’s the basic unit of all living cells
- either prokaryotic or eukaryotic
What are prokaryotic cells?
- these are singled celled organisms
- they have a simple structure of just a single undivided internal area called cytoplasm