User:K. Leo Pullin/sandbox

The account of this former contributor was not re-activated after the server upgrade of March 2022.

Microscope

A microscope is an instrument that creates an enlarged image of an object. Microscopes generally focus a type of electromagnetic radiation to read differences in the structure or density of an object and form an image from this information. Two main types of microscopes are the light microscope and the electron microscope. The light microscope focuses electromagnetic radiation in the visible light range of the spectrum through a series of glass lenses through or onto the specimen. If the light is focused onto a thin specimen and gathers information as it is transmitted through the specimen, the microscope is a [[transmitted light microscope[[. If the light is focused onto the specimen and gathers information without traveling through the specimen, the microscope is a [[reflected light microscope[[. Electron microscopes use high energy beams of electrons focused through or onto the specimen by a series of electrostatic and/or electromagnetic lenses. In a transmission electron microscope the electron beam is allowed to travel through the very thin specimen to another series of electromagnetic lenses that form the image. In a scanning electron microscope the electron beam is focused onto the surface of the specimen where the electrons interact with the atoms of the specimen, emitting various signals that require detectors to capture the information and additional components to form an image or plot data from the information.