Amino acid basics. Powering the Cell: Mitochondria. Part 1: Introduction to Cells (1/3) | CosmoLearning Biology. 50 Years of Protein Structure Determination. Biology | 7.012 Introduction to Biology, Fall 2004 | Video Lectures. Cell Size and Scale. Some cells are visible to the unaided eye The smallest objects that the unaided human eye can see are about 0.1 mm long. That means that under the right conditions, you might be able to see an ameoba proteus, a human egg, and a paramecium without using magnification. A magnifying glass can help you to see them more clearly, but they will still look tiny. Smaller cells are easily visible under a light microscope.
To see anything smaller than 500 nm, you will need an electron microscope. Adenine The label on the nucleotide is not quite accurate. How can an X chromosome be nearly as big as the head of the sperm cell? No, this isn't a mistake. The X chromosome is shown here in a condensed state, as it would appear in a cell that's going through mitosis. A chromosome is made up of genetic material (one long piece of DNA) wrapped around structural support proteins (histones). Carbon The size of the carbon atom is based on its van der Waals radius. Chapter 8: Biology: Photography through the microscope. Photography through a microscope Amateur microscopes and cheap cameras A simple toy microscope and a disposable camera can team up to make stunning photographs of very tiny things. The technique is simplicity itself.
You simply focus the microscope carefully by eye as you would normally do. Then you place the camera lens right up against the eyepiece, and snap the picture. [Click on photo for larger picture] The results are suprisingly good. Basswood (Tilia) stem, 4x objective. These photos were taken with an $8.00 disposable camera. Basswood (Tilia) stem, 10x objective.
The main drawback to the disposable camera is the fixed focus. Wheat kernel, 4x objective. The photos were developed normally, and scanned using an inexpensive color scanner (about $40.00). Wheat kernel, 10x objective. Wheat kernel, 40x objective. A selection of microscopes The microscope shown in the photo below is an inexpensive microscope of the type commonly sold to amateurs like us. Using digital cameras Del.icio.us Google. InnerSuper. Inside a Cell.