Question

Phase contrast microscope is

• A. Based on the scattering of light and using a dark field condenser.
• B. Used for the study of living cells.
• C. Related to retardation and thickness of object.
• D. The best method for studying non-living ultra structure.

Answer 1

The correct option is B Used for the study of living cells.

Phase contrast microscopy is particularly important in biology. It reveals many cellular structures that are not visible with a simpler bright field microscope. These structures were made visible to earlier microscopists by staining, but this required additional preparation and killed the cells. The phase contrast microscope made it possible for biologists to study living cells and how they proliferate through cell division. After its invention in the early 1930s, phase contrast microscopy proved to be such an advancement in microscopy, that its inventor Frits Zernike was awarded the Nobel prize in 1953.