Question

Does the magnifying power of a microscope depend on the colour of the light used? Justify your answer.

Answer 1

A microscope consists of two lenses and we know focal length of a lens depends on the refractive index of the lens which itself depends on the wavelength or colour of the light used. Hence, if colour of light changes focal length of the lens also changes which would simultaneously change the image distance. This change in image distance will change the magnifying power (as magnifying power is the ratio of image distance to object distance). Therefore, we can say the magnifying power of a microscope depends on the colour of the light used.