The important feature of microscope is its ability to magnify the object i.e. to have high resolving power. The resolving power is the least distance between the object which is resolved by lens. For eg- The human eye has a resolving power of about 0.25mm which means that two dots or points placed 0.25mm distance apart can be distinguished as two dots. If the distance between the two dots is less than 0.25mm, then only one dot will be seen.
The resolving power of a microscope depends on two factors. Which are,
1. The wavelength of light used for the illumination.
2. The light absorbance power of objective lens.
The resolving power is expressed as
RP = wavelength of light / 2 X NA
The resolving power depends on the wavelength. Short wavelength of visible light will give maximum resolution.
