What magnification do you need to be able to see blood cells? 400X? 600X? More?
I'm getting one my son this Christmas, and I want it to be able to see the cells swimming around.
Thanks in advance for any answers.
Assuming decent optics, 150 to 400X should work fine...He'll see more detail at the higher magnifications.
It's been decades since I looked at lower-end (toy) microscopes and things may have improved since. However, be aware that the optics can be a problem at higher powers, expecially if you really want to see fine detail in their actual colors...The poorest quality lenses, such as those that were used in many toy microscopes, often refract light (often resulting in a black background with bright sparkily colors from accross the spectrum), a problem which becomes more severe at higher magnification. When shopping for a microscope, look for good clairty and little, if any refraction.
That may still prove tough at the lower end, and I'm afraid I can't help you narrow things down.
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On a more serious note, when I was looking for a telescope for my son, I found that places like Discoverystore.com seemed to place a higher value on whether the thing was actually USEFUL. Little details can be big in the end. Someone shopping at Toys R Us may not appreciate Egham's points, but the people shopping at discovery store, might.
Of course, they are at a more expensive price point there. They didn't seem to have the junk telescopes, for instance. Just decent to excellent. And, it was clear which was which.
the homeschool movement has expanded and improved the home science market - the home microscopes offered these days are much better than the toys from when we were kids.
On a more serious note, when I was looking for a telescope for my son, I found that places like Discoverystore.com seemed to place a higher value on whether the thing was actually USEFUL. Little details can be big in the end. Someone shopping at Toys R Us may not appreciate Egham's points, but the people shopping at discovery store, might.
Of course, they are at a more expensive price point there. They didn't seem to have the junk telescopes, for instance. Just decent to excellent. And, it was clear which was which.
Some good advice. With telescopes that will be used for astronomy or casual star gazing the key issue is not magnification, but the amount of light that can be gathered. Bringing a star 500 times closer still gives you a point of light. Making it brighter and revealing background that is invisible to the naked eye is more important.
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Some good advice. With telescopes that will be used for astronomy or casual star gazing the key issue is not magnification, but the amount of light that can be gathered. Bringing a star 500 times closer still gives you a point of light. Making it brighter and revealing background that is invisible to the naked eye is more important.
Good to know! I just inherited a telescope from my parents - they bought it a few years back as a gift for my brother, and he never used it, so they gave it to me.
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I see they have one for less than $500 which connects to a computer. For amateur usage I suspect that seeing the image on a screen would be far easier to use. I know with my Rx prescription glasses microscopes and binoculars are a pain in the a**. I have no idea about quality and better prices. But I suspect that one connecting to your computer would be higher quality than optics along. But I don't know if such a beast is available.
What I don't know and you would have to ask an expert would be things like slide preparation, resolution, lighting all of which could be fudged by mere advertizements.
What magnification do you need to be able to see blood cells? 400X? 600X? More?
I'm getting one my son this Christmas, and I want it to be able to see the cells swimming around.
Thanks in advance for any answers.
Blood cells are really small cells, especially the red ones. A cheek swab might be more interesting to look at under the microscope. Then you wouldn't have to worry as much about the magnification. 100X would be fine, although 400X would, of course, be even better. Your son may find looking at pond water way more interesting, because it will be full of various algae and protozoa that have all kinds of interesting shapes. Plus you should be able to find amoebas oozing around - just avoid the ones that eat your brain!
Some good advice. With telescopes that will be used for astronomy or casual star gazing the key issue is not magnification, but the amount of light that can be gathered. Bringing a star 500 times closer still gives you a point of light. Making it brighter and revealing background that is invisible to the naked eye is more important.
In about 1 1/2 years, I'll be coming up on my 10 yr anniversary with my employer. They offer a Tasco telescope, but some minor research turned up bad reviews.
microscope question
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