Exercise 5.2 a) What type of microscope is best to visualize the process of the
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Question
Exercise 5.2 a) What type of microscope is best to visualize the process of the cell division for unstained b) What is the difference in the image contrast between phase contrast microscope and c) To image a 50 um-thickness cell without any labeling, which type of wide-field live cells (cells around 5 micron thick) growing in a plastic petri dish? Explain why. differential interference contrast (DIC) microscope? What image artifact is present in phase contrast microscope, but not present in DIC microscope? microscope is the best choice to visualize its structural features at different depths? Explain why. d) What is the common physical effect shared by both phase contrast microscope and DIC microscope?Explanation / Answer
a.Phase contrast microscopy is best to visualize process of cell division for unstained live cells. As process of staining generally kills live cells, phase contrast microscopy was popularized by series of time lapse movies to observe translucent cells. b.Phase contrast microscopy yields image intensity that differs as function of optical path length, magnitude with dense regions appearing darker in background but DIC has only optical path length responsible for contrast. c. Fluoroscence microscopy is best choice to visualize cell structures at different depths because of high resolution, extreme sensitivity and high contrast. d. The common physical effects between phase contrast microscopy and DIC microscope are both produces high contrast images, uses visible spectrum of light, both uses two beams to generate final image, no staining is required.