All Topics  
Microscopic

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Microscopic
 
 
  Topics Microscopic Topic Home

Microscopic (from the , mikrós, "small" and s??p??, skopéo, "look") is a term used to describe objects smaller than those that can easily be seen by the naked eye
Naked eye

The naked eye is a figure of speech referring to human visual perception that is unaided by enhancing equipment, such as a telescope or microscope....
 and which require a lens
Lens (optics)

A lens is an optics device with perfect or approximate axial symmetry which transmittance and refraction light, converging or diverging the beam....
 or microscope
Microscope

A microscope is an Laboratory equipment for viewing objects that are too small to be seen by the naked or unaided eye. The science of investigating small objects using such an instrument is called microscopy....
 to see them clearly.

onvention it is also used to describe classes of objects which are most commonly too small to see but of which some members are large enough to be observed with the eye.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Microscopic'
Start a new discussion about 'Microscopic'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Microscopic (from the , mikrós, "small" and s??p??, skopéo, "look") is a term used to describe objects smaller than those that can easily be seen by the naked eye
Naked eye

The naked eye is a figure of speech referring to human visual perception that is unaided by enhancing equipment, such as a telescope or microscope....
 and which require a lens
Lens (optics)

A lens is an optics device with perfect or approximate axial symmetry which transmittance and refraction light, converging or diverging the beam....
 or microscope
Microscope

A microscope is an Laboratory equipment for viewing objects that are too small to be seen by the naked or unaided eye. The science of investigating small objects using such an instrument is called microscopy....
 to see them clearly.

History

By convention it is also used to describe classes of objects which are most commonly too small to see but of which some members are large enough to be observed with the eye. Such groups include the Cladocera
Cladocera

Cladocera or cladocerans are small crustaceans commonly called water fleas, part of the Class Branchiopoda. They form a monophyly, which is currently divided into four suborders, 11 family , 80 genus, and about 400 species....
, planktonic green algae
Algae

Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms. The largest and most complex marine forms are called seaweeds....
 of which Volvox
Volvox

Volvox is one of the best-known chlorophytes and is the most developed in a series of genera that form spherical colonies. Each mature Volvox colony is composed of numerous flagellate cells similar to Chlamydomonas, up to 50,000 in total, and embedded in the surface of a hollow sphere or coenobium containing an extracellular matr...
 is readily observable, and the protozoa of which Stentor
Stentor (protozoa)

Stentor are a genus of filter-feeding, heterotrophic ciliate protozoa, representative of the heterotrichs. The body is generally horn-shaped, hence the association with the Stentor and the former name "trumpet animalcule", with a ring of prominent cilia around the anterior "bell" that sweep in food and aid in swimming....
 can be easily seen without aid.

Microscopic is also by association used to classify and describe the units and measurements relevant to very small objects. The antonym
Antonym

In lexical semantics, opposites are words that lie in an inherently incompatible binary relationship as in the opposite pairs male : female, long : short, up : down, and precede : follow....
 to microscopic is macroscopic
Macroscopic

Macroscopic is a word commonly used to describe physics objects that are measurement and observation by the naked eye. When applied to phenomena and abstract objects, it describes existence in the world as we perceive it....


The units used to describe objects on a microscopic length scale
Length scale

In physics, length scale is a particular length or distance determined with the precision of one order of magnitude. The concept of length scale is particularly important because physical phenomena of different length scales cannot affect each other and are said to decouple....
 are most commonly the Micrometer
Micrometre

A micrometre or micron is one Micro- of a metre, or equivalently one thousandth of a millimetre. It is also commonly known as a micron....
 (µm) - one millionth of 1 metre, and smaller units.

Microscopic is also commonly used as a hyperbole
Hyperbole

Hyperbole comes from ancient Greek "?pe?????" and is a figure of speech in which statements are exaggerated. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is rarely meant to be taken literally....
 in the English language to describe small objects of a class that would be expected to be bigger - as in "Her feet are microscopic!"

See also

  • Microorganism
    Microorganism

    A microorganism or microbe is an organism that is microscopic . The study of microorganisms is called microbiology, a subject that began with Anton van Leeuwenhoek's discovery of microorganisms in 1675, using a microscope of his own design....