A classmate who missed last week’s first lab on microscopy observes a lab partner in this week’s lab using oil immersion with the 100x objective lens. She asks her partner why he used it.” To increase the magnification of the microscope” was his answer. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

please help

I disagree with the partner's answer. Oil immersion is not used to increase the magnification of the microscope. The purpose of using oil immersion is to increase the resolution, not the magnification.

When light passes from air into glass or any other medium, it bends or refracts. This bending of light can cause a loss of resolution, resulting in a blurred image under high magnification. Oil immersion compensates for this loss of resolution by reducing the refraction of light when it passes through the microscope slide and the objective lens.

The oil is placed between the slide and the objective lens to minimize the refraction of light and maintain a high level of resolution. This allows for clearer and more detailed observations, especially when using the 100x objective lens, which has a very high magnification.

In summary, oil immersion is used to increase the resolution, not the magnification, of the microscope.

I would disagree with the lab partner's response. The purpose of using oil immersion with the 100x objective lens is not primarily to increase the magnification of the microscope. Instead, it is used to improve the resolution or clarity of the image being observed.

To understand why oil immersion is used and the reasoning behind it, let's go through a brief explanation of how microscopy works:

Microscopes work by using a series of lenses to magnify and focus light passing through a specimen. The objective lens, which is located close to the specimen, is the primary lens responsible for magnifying the image. However, as the magnification increases, the lens needs to capture more light and focus it accurately. This is where the issue of resolution comes in.

Resolution refers to the ability to distinguish two closely spaced points as separate and distinct. It is limited by the wavelength of light being used. In traditional light microscopy, the wavelength of visible light limits the achievable resolution to around 0.2 micrometers.

With oil immersion, a special type of oil with a refractive index similar to glass is placed between the specimen and the objective lens. This eliminates the air gap and helps to minimize refraction, or the bending of light rays. By reducing refraction, oil immersion improves the overall resolution of the microscope, allowing for a clearer and more detailed view of the specimen.

So, in summary, the use of oil immersion with the 100x objective lens is not primarily for increasing the magnification but rather to enhance the resolution and clarity of the observed image.