What is Resolving Power?

What is Resolving Power?

The resolving power of an optical instrument is defined as the capacity of the instrument to distinguish between two objects that are close together and produce distinct images of the two objects....

Resolving Power of Optical Instrument

Human eyes are not much powerful. They need some help in some cases. This is where optical instruments come into play. These instruments have a major role in various scientific fields. From the depths of space to the layers of hair, to see all the details we require these instruments, as we cannot see them using the naked eye. One of the important aspects of optical instruments is their resolving power....

What is Resolution?

Resolution is the quality of the image which is decided by the diffraction effect. The resolving power of an instrument depends on its resolution. The resolution of an optical instrument is defined as the smallest distance between two points that can be distinguished by the observer’s eye or the lens installed in the optical device. Scientifically, the precision with which an optical device can record or measure a specimen’s variables under observation is also known as resolution....

What is Magnification?

Magnification is the process of enlarging an object only by appearance and not by actual physical size. This enlargement can be calibrated by calculated numbers known as magnification. The magnified image does not actually become large but it appears to be large. Various lenses are used for this process of magnification. This concept of magnification is used in microscopes and telescopes. The magnification in the microscope helps in the study of the structure and composition of different microbes. whereas, the magnification in the telescope is observing the stars and planets....

Resolution Vs Magnification

Magnification is the ability to make small objects larger to see their details properly, like making microscopic organisms visible. It is the process of enlarging an object only by appearance and not by the actual physical size. Resolution is the ability to distinguish between two objects from each other. The term magnification is often confused with resolution. Resolution determines the ability of the instrumentation system to show details in the object that is being imaged. On the other hand, magnification means without high resolution may make small microbes visible. Magnification magnifies the object’s size while resolution distinguishes between two objects. Magnification doesn’t allow the observer to distinguish between two objects. In order to distinguish between two different objects under a microscope, it should be first magnified to a specified point at which the resolution becomes much more relevant. The magnification and resolution of an optical instrument are inversely related to each other. When magnification increases, the resolution decreases, and vice versa....

Rayleigh’s Criterion

The minimum distances between images must be such that the central maximum of the first image lies on the first minimum of the second and vice versa. Such an image viewed from an optical device is calculated using Rayleigh’s criterion....

Resolving Power of Telescope

Objects such as binary stars, individual stars, distant galaxies, and planets subtend small angles on a telescope. A larger aperture is needed to resolve these small angles and improve the resolving power of the telescope. Rayleigh’s criterion can be used to determine the resolving power of the telescope. The resolving power is inversely proportional to the angular separation between two distant objects. According to Rayleigh’s resolving power of optical instruments formula,...

Resolving Power of Optical Microscope

The resolving power of a microscope determines how far apart points can be seen separately. In the case of the Microscope, The resolving power is inversely proportional to the distance between the two objects. Its resolving power can also be determined by its resolving range. The resolution limit of a microscope is the shortest distance between two nearby objects when the images formed by the microscope are properly differentiated. The smaller the distance higher is the resolving power of the microscope. Using Ernst Abbe’s criterion, the resolution power of a microscope can be given by,...

What is Diffraction Limit?

When we observe a point object using a circular aperture, like a lens or iris the image formed of the point object is not a point but a diffracted pattern is formed. This phenomenon is more pronounced when the size of the object is comparable to the wavelength of light, the smallest object which can be seen is termed the Diffraction Limit....

Solved Examples on Resolving Power

Example 1: A space telescope’s primary mirror has a diameter of 3.2 m. Determine the angle between two just-resolvable point light sources. Assume the average wavelength of light as 550 nm....

FAQs on Resolving Power

Question 1: What is Wave Optics?...