How To Make a Water Drop Microscope
With a few items you will already have around the house you can make a water drop microscope.
Read on to find out how and learn about how it works.
What you need:
Water
A dropper (or a kebab stick/tooth pick to create water droplets)
A small, shallow, clear container such as a clean hummus pot
A clear lid for the container
(a lid is best, but glad wrap and an elastic band will work too!)Tissue
Specimens to observe
A Torch (optional)
Magnifying glass (optional)
What to do:
Put your specimen (dead insect, leaf, feather etc..) into the pot
Put the lid on the pot or stretch glad rap over the top making it as smooth and tight as possible and secure it with an elastic band
Put one or two drops of water onto the lid or glad wrap, trying to make the drop as spherical as possible.
Look through the drop to see the specimen magnified
When you want to put a new specimen into the pot, dab off your water with tissue, take off the lid and repeat the process again. You could also experiment with a magnifying glass (another convex lens) and torch.
Fun Facts about Microscopes…
Pioneering microbiologists used small glass globes filled with water to help them to magnify objects. This is similar to what you have done in this experiment! The water forms a convex lens shape which helps to magnify your specimen. Modern microscope lenses today are generally compound microscopes which means they have many glass lenses in them.
There are two types of lenses: concave and convex
Convex lens: This kind of lens bends or protrudes outwards so it looks fatter or domed on each side, as light passes through this lens it converges (comes to a point) which makes things look bigger.
Concave lens: This type of lens bends inwards as if it has been pinched in the middle. This makes light diverge (spread out) as it passes through it which makes things look smaller.
TOP TIP: To remember the difference between convex and concave, remember that a concave lens caves inwards.