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MICROSCOPES
Lesson 2 - Page 1

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OPTICS

Optics is a very important technology in our present society.  In this section we will concentrate on optical systems and their relation to microscopes.  Theoretically, optical equipment can concentrate and move waves within the electromagnetic spectrum.  Electromagnetic waves include radio, visible light, x-ray, gamma rays, and cosmic waves.

 
Electromagnetic wave spectrum, microscopes can use more than just light!
Click on picture for example

Electromagnetic waves are considered transverse waves which is a “flip-flopping” of positive and negative dipoles of particles.  Don’t confuse them with physical waves which are longitudinal waves and are created by an actual physical disturbance, like sound or seismic waves. Optics incorporates electromagnetic waves, not physical waves.  The movement of waves demonstrates how light and other electromagnetic waves are moved in a microscope to make an image.

When a ray of light travels from one medium to another (for example, from air through glass), the path can bend.  The original ray is called the incident ray, which can be reflected (bounces off a surface at same angle) or refracted (goes through substances at a different angle).  Since most microscopes in the classroom use only light, we restrict our information to visible light rays.  Keep in mind that other wavelengths of the electromagnetic wave spectrum (i.e. microwaves) also follow these rules.