Microscope

<p>A microscope  is a <a href="/facts/Laboratory_equipment/kqR3Vtx9">laboratory instrument</a> used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the <a href="/facts/Naked_eye/ePEIa0lK">naked eye</a>. <a href="/facts/Microscopy/GpHlElDS">Microscopy</a> is the <a href="/facts/Science/IJoaD7rs">science</a> of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. <a href="/facts/Microscopic/EHg18xvy">Microscopic</a> means being invisible to the eye unless aided by a microscope.
</p><p>There are many types of microscopes, and they may be grouped in different ways. One way is to describe the method an instrument uses to interact with a sample and produce images, either by sending a beam of <a href="/facts/Light/jeofpMn4">light</a> or <a href="/facts/Electron/L0KBo5cW">electrons</a> through a sample in its <a href="/facts/Optical_path/tXu2qmnN">optical path</a>, by detecting <a href="/facts/Fluorescence/qsJVT2qP">photon emissions</a> from a sample, or by scanning across and a short distance from the surface of a sample using a probe. The most common microscope (and the first to be invented) is the <a href="/facts/Optical_microscope/5700vcna">optical microscope</a>, which uses <a href="/facts/Lens/ejlH6n5c">lenses</a> to <a href="/facts/Refract/S8kvSKzM">refract</a> <a href="/facts/Visible_light/jeofpMn4">visible light</a> that passed through a <a href="/facts/Microtome/FcQ21HIL">thinly sectioned</a> sample to produce an observable image. Other major types of microscopes are the <a href="/facts/Fluorescence_microscope/eMwIdrRR">fluorescence microscope</a>, <a href="/facts/Electron_microscope/XtaBktwF">electron microscope</a> (both the <a href="/facts/Transmission_electron_microscope/Rpr8jpCn">transmission electron microscope</a> and the <a href="/facts/Scanning_electron_microscope/yzK0hsSx">scanning electron microscope</a>) and various types of <a href="/facts/Scanning_probe_microscope/uJJPXQLN">scanning probe microscopes</a>.
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Microscope open-in-new

Microscope