when robert hooke observed cork through his compound microscope , all that he could see were empty chambers. why were hooke's chambers empty
From ucmp dot Berkly dot edu,
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Hooke had discovered plant cells -- more precisely, what Hooke saw were the cell walls in cork tissue. In fact, it was Hooke who coined the term "cells": the boxlike cells of cork reminded him of the cells of a monastery. Hooke also reported seeing similar structures in wood and in other plants.
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The chambers were empty because he was looking at dead, dry cells (cork tree bark)
no
The cell chambers appeared to be empty because they were, in fact, dead and dry cells.
The cork cells were empty because the cells died
Robert Hooke's observation of empty chambers when he observed cork through his compound microscope can be attributed to a couple of reasons.
Firstly, cork is a plant tissue that consists of a network of dead, hollow cells with thick cell walls. These cells are called "cork cells" or "cork cambium cells." During the growth and development of cork, these cells accumulate a substance called suberin in their cell walls, which makes them impermeable to water and gases. This accumulation of suberin and the subsequent death of the cells create the empty chambers that Hooke observed under the microscope.
Secondly, the compound microscope that Hooke used had a relatively low resolving power, meaning it could not observe the fine details of the cork structure. At that time, microscopes were still in their early stages of development, and the quality of lenses and overall magnification power were limited compared to modern microscopes. Hooke's microscope allowed him to see the basic structure of cork cells but was not capable of revealing intricate details of their internal components.
In summary, the empty chambers observed by Hooke were a result of cork cells accumulating suberin and dying during their development, creating hollow spaces. The limitations of the compound microscope used by Hooke prevented him from observing the finer internal details of these chambers.