Your microscope
What you see under the microscope · Animal cell
Cheek cells under the microscope
Gently scrape the inside of your cheek with a toothpick, spread it on the slide and add a drop of methylene blue. It is the easiest animal cell to get hold of: your own.
Choose the model and the technique in the panel.
40×: finding the stain
With the 4× objective you locate the stained area and centre it. The cells are still dots.
100×: single and in groups
Flat, irregular cells appear, some on their own and others in overlapping sheets.
400×: nucleus, cytoplasm and membrane
Each cell measures about 50–60 µm. The small, oval nucleus stains dark blue; the cytoplasm, pale blue, and the edge looks slightly darker.
1000×: mouth bacteria
With the immersion objective you see tiny dark dots on and around the cells: they are bacteria from the mouth.
A cell, up close
Unlike the onion cell, it has no wall: only a membrane. That is why its shape is irregular.
3D view: under the microscope it looks flat, seen from above.
Which microscope do you need?
For animal cells a 400× biological microscope is enough. To see the bacteria you need the 100× oil objective, that is, 1000×.
Microscopes for schoolsWhich microscope do I need?Frequently asked questions
How do you prepare a sample of cheek cells?
Scrape the inside of your cheek with a clean toothpick, spread it on a slide, add a drop of methylene blue and cover it with a coverslip.
What magnification do you need to see cheek cells?
At 100× you can already see the cells; at 400×, the nucleus. Mouth bacteria need 1000× with immersion oil.
Why are cheek cells not rectangular like onion cells?
Because animal cells have no cell wall, only a membrane, and their shape is irregular.
How this simulation is made
It is not a photograph: it is a calculated model. Magnification, field of view and resolution come from each microscope's spec sheet; the sample measurements come from the sources cited below.
| What | How it is calculated | What is approximate |
|---|---|---|
| Magnification and field of view | Magnification = eyepiece × objective. Field of view = eyepiece field number ÷ objective magnification. | Exact according to the spec sheet. |
| Cell measurements | Cell of 50–60 µm; the nucleus takes up ≈ 2.5% of its surface area, about 9 µm in diameter (calculated). | Cell thickness without a source: chosen. |
| Appearance | Flat, irregular, single or in sheets; slightly darker edge; dark blue oval nucleus; bacteria as dots. | Shape of each cell generated at random. |
| Techniques | Brightfield with methylene blue, phase contrast, darkfield and polarisation. | Intensities chosen by eye. |
Sources
- Spec sheets of the Letscopes microscopes.
- Measurements: PMC2732433.
- Appearance and staining: Blupreme and Microscope World.
Other samples
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