Challenge: To design a universal adaptor that allows you to use your smartphone as a microscope.
Parameters: Your device should allow for transmission and surface images, and should work with as many different brands of smartphone as possible. You will require illumination, which can be external, or you can use the light on the camera.
Scoring: Your device will be scored on the following criteria:
Universality, Illumination, Magnification, Resolution.
The magnification and resolution will be based on the device, not the digital capabilities of the phones.
You will be given two samples which I will photograph to determine the quality of your microscope attachments. My phone is an Apple iPhone 5
Physics: The optical elements will likely be convex lenses, which will be employed to produce enlarged virtual images by refraction of light. Resolution depends on sample, attempted magnification, lens quality, device construction, illumination, and phone camera quality.
Extensions: Chromatic aberration is a distortion caused by dispersion of light during refraction. Higher magnifications require more illumination. Depth of field is reduced at higher magnifications. Oil immersion is used on high magnification for real microscopes, but is NOT allowed for this project!
Help/Hints: A simple compound microscope can be made from two convex lenses, but what you see with your eye will not be the same as what you see with the camera because the “engineering” of your eye is different than that of the phone camera. You will need to build something that can hold everything securely because it is impossible to prevent your hand from shaking at the microscopic level!
Quiz Topics: 24.3, 25 (lenses only), 26.4, 26.6, 27.9 (interest only), 29.1-29.3
Timeline: Day 1 Planning
Day 2 Building
Day 3 Building
Day 4 Calibrating
Day 5 Contest