(American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), 2002) Rueckner, Wolfgang; Papaliolios, Costas
An experiment is described in which the effect of instrument aperture size on resolution is easily demonstrated. Using diffraction as a tool rather than a limit to resolution, one can further demonstrate the possibility of detecting the presence of more than one object, even when the instrument cannot resolve the objects.
We present an inexpensive apparatus for bright field and fluorescence microscopy with video capture, suitable for introductory laboratory courses. Experiments on Brownian motion and the Boltzmann distribution of suspended particles in a gravitational field are described. The Boltzmann constant is measured in three ways, and the results fall within 15% of the accepted value.
