(Unit 2) Chapter 6: A Tour of the Cell Flashcards
What is as fundamental to the living systems of biology as the atom is to chemistry?
Cell
True or False:
All organisms are made of cells
True
When were microscopes invented?
1590, refined during the 1600s
Describe how a light microscope (LM) works (2)
Visible light is passed through the specimen and then through glass lenses
The lenses refract the light in such a way that the image of the specimen is magnified as it is projected into the eye or others
Define:
Refract
Bend
Define:
Magnification
The ratio of an object’s image size to its real size
Define:
Resolution
A measure of the clarity of the image; It is the minimum distance two points can be separated and still be distinguished as two points
What is resolution also known as?
Resolving power
What are three important parameters in microscopy?
Magnification
Resolution
Contrast
Define:
Contrast
Accentuate differences in parts of the sample
The light microscope cannot resolve detail finer than about ___ __________ or ___ __________
0.2 micrometres
200 nanometres
Cell walls were first seen by who? When?
Robert Hooke, in 1665
Define:
Organelles
Membrane-enclosed compartments
Describe how an electron microscope (EM) works
Instead using light, it focuses a beam of electrons through the specimen or onto its surface
Resolution is inversely related to the ____________ of the _________ a microscope uses for imaging, and ________ beams have much _______ wavelengths than _______ _____
Wavelength Radiation Electron Shorter Visible light
1 cm = __^__ m = ___ inch
10^-2
0.4
1 mm = __^__ m
10^-3
1 micrometre = __^__ mm = __^__ m
10^-3
10^-6
1 nm = __^__ micrometre = __^__ m
10^-3
10^-9
Describe:
Brightfield (unstained specimen) in light microscopy
Passes light directly through specimen, unless cell is naturally pigmented or artificially stained the image has little contrast
Describe:
Brightfield (stained specimen) in light microscopy
Staining with various dyes enhances contrast
What do most staining procedures require the cells to be?
Require that cells be fixed (preserved)
Describe:
Phase-contrast in light microscopy
Enhances contrast in unstained cells by amplifying variations in density within specimen
What is phase-contrast especially useful for?
Especially useful for examining living, unpigmented cells
Describe:
Differential-interference-contrast (Nomarski) in light microscopy
Like phase-contrast microscopy, uses optical modifications to exaggerate differences in density, making the image appear almost 3-D
Describe:
Fluorescence in light microscopy
Shows the locations of specific molecules in the cell by tagging the molecules with fluorescent dyes or antibodies
What do the fluorescent dyes in fluorescence light microscopy do?
Absorb ultraviolet radiation and emit visible light
Describe:
Confocal in light microscopy
A fluorescent “optical sectioning” technique that uses a pinhole aperture to eliminate out-of-focus light from a thick sample, creating a single plane of fluorescence in the image
In confocal light microscopy, capturing sharp images at many different planes, a ___ construction can be created
3-D
Define:
Ultrastructure
The cellular anatomy revealed by an electron microscope
Describe how scanning electron microscope (SEM) works
Electron beam scans the surface of the sample, which is usually coated with a thin film of gold
The beam excites electrons on the surface, and these secondary electrons are detected by a device that translates the pattern of electrons into an electronic signal to a video screen
What is a scanning electron microscope (SEM) useful for?
SEM is especially useful for detailed study of the surface of a specimen
What is the resulting image of SEM?
An image of the specimen’s topography; SEM has great depth of field, results in an image that appears 3-D