magnification

(noun)

The apparent enlargement of an object in an image.

Related Terms

Examples of magnification in the following topics:

  • The Compound Microscope

    • The advantages of these microscopes, due to the multiple lenses, are the reduced chromatic aberrations and exchangeable objective lenses to adjust magnification.
    • Since each lens produces a magnification that multiplies the height of the image, the total magnification is a product of the individual magnifications.
    • where m is total magnification, mo is objective lens magnification, me is ocular lens magnification.
    • This diagram shows the setup of mirrors that allow for the magnification of images.

  • Magnification and Resolution

    • Magnification is the enlargement of an image; resolution is the ability to tell two objects apart.
    • Magnification is the process of enlarging something only in appearance, not in physical size.
    • This enlargement is quantified by a calculated number also called "magnification. " The term magnification is often confused with the term "resolution," which describes the ability of an imaging system to show detail in the object that is being imaged.
    • At very high magnifications with transmitted light, point objects are seen as fuzzy discs surrounded by diffraction rings.
    • It should be noted that both panels are at the same magnification, yet the panel on the right has a higher resolution and gives more information on the sample.

  • Refraction and Magnification

    • The underlying principal of a microscope is that lenses refract light which allows for magnification.
    • In essence, a convex lens allows magnification.
    • A magnifying glass is one convex lens, and this by itself allows the magnification of objects.
    • Due to the nature of light, and the maximum amount of refraction that can be possible by a material, there are limits to the amount of magnification that can be done by a light microscope.

  • Microscopy

    • Microscopes allow for magnification and visualization of cells and cellular components that cannot be seen with the naked eye.
    • Two parameters that are important in microscopy are magnification and resolving power.
    • Magnification is the process of enlarging an object in appearance.
    • Not only does this allow for higher magnification and, thus, more detail, it also provides higher resolving power.
    • (b) Electron microscopes provide a much higher magnification, 100,000x, and a have a resolution of 50 picometers.

  • Electron Microscopes

    • It has much higher magnification or resolving power than a normal light microscope.
    • It can achieve better than 50 pm resolution and magnifications of up to about 10,000,000 times , whereas ordinary, nonconfocal light microscopes are limited by diffraction to about 200 nm resolution and useful magnifications below 2000 times.
    • This is why you can magnify targets to a much higher order of magnification using electrons rather than visible light.

  • Combinations of Lenses

    • The magnification of such a telescope is given by
    • Note the sign convention: a telescope with two convex lenses (f1 > 0, f2 > 0) produces a negative magnification, indicating an inverted image.
    • A convex plus a concave lens (f1 > 0 >f2) produces a positive magnification and the image is upright.
    • The lens is more powerful for violet (V) than for red (R), producing images with different locations and magnifications.
    • The magnification can be found by dividing the focal length of the objective lens by the focal length of the eyepiece.

  • The Thin Lens Equation and Magnification

    • We define the ratio of image height to object height (hi/ho) as the magnification m.
    • The magnification is related to do, di, ho, and hi by the following relation:

  • Biological Magnification

  • The Magnifying Glass

    • The magnification of a magnifying glass depends upon where the instrument is placed between the user's eye and the object being viewed and upon the total distance between eye and object.
    • This type of glass would be sold as a 2x magnifier, but a typical observer would see about one to two times magnification depending on the lens position.

  • Aberrations

    • Since the index of refraction of lenses depends on color or wavelength, images are produced at different places and with different magnifications for different colors. shows chromatic aberration for a single convex lens.
    • Another aberration or distortion is a barrel distortion where image magnification decreases with the distance from the optical axis.