five types of microscopes in order from lowest resolution to highest

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what microscope has the lowest resolution

The five types of microscopes in order from lowest resolution to highest are as follows:

1. Simple Light Microscope: First, let's discuss the basic microscope that most people are familiar with, the simple light microscope. This microscope uses visible light to observe samples. It is equipped with a condenser lens and an objective lens to magnify the image. The resolution of a simple light microscope typically falls between 200-300 nanometers.

2. Compound Light Microscope: The next type is the compound light microscope. It is similar to the simple light microscope but has additional lenses to magnify the image further. These additional lenses help achieve a higher resolution. A typical compound light microscope has a resolution of around 150-200 nanometers.

3. Phase Contrast Microscope: This microscope is specifically designed to view transparent or colorless samples. It utilizes the phase shift caused by differences in refractive indexes of different parts of the specimen to generate contrast. The phase contrast microscope can achieve a resolution of about 100 nanometers.

4. Fluorescence Microscope: The fluorescence microscope employs the use of fluorescent dyes or markers. These dyes emit light of a specific color when excited by light of a different color, allowing for visualization of specific cellular structures or molecules. By utilizing fluorescent dyes, this microscope can provide detailed information about a sample. The resolution of a fluorescence microscope can range from 20-70 nanometers.

5. Electron Microscope: The highest resolution microscope is the electron microscope. Instead of using light, it uses a beam of accelerated electrons to visualize the sample. Electrons have a much shorter wavelength than light, allowing for far greater resolution. There are two types of electron microscopes: transmission electron microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). TEM allows for detailed imaging of internal structures of a specimen with a resolution down to 0.1 nanometers, while SEM provides detailed surface imaging down to 1 nanometer.

To summarize, the order of microscopes from lowest resolution to highest is as follows: Simple Light Microscope, Compound Light Microscope, Phase Contrast Microscope, Fluorescence Microscope, and Electron Microscope.