Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Cork under the Microscope

Microscope World recently used the HSZ6-TBL stereo zoom microscope to view a cork from a wine bottle.

Cork is a buoyant material that is harvested for commercial use primarily from the Cork Oak, which is found in southwest Europe and northwest Africa. Cork is impermeable, buoyant, and fire resistant and is therefore used in a variety of products, the most common of which are wine stoppers. The montado landscape of Portugal produces approximately 50% of cork harvested annually worldwide.

100x Magnification obtained with higher magnification c-mount adapter.
100x Magnification. Captured with DCM2.1 microscope camera.
100x Magnification.
You will notice in the above images of cork that some of the crevices are not fully in focus - this happens because the higher the magnification on the microscope, the smaller the depth of field becomes. So if you are not working with a substance that is completely flat, you will have to refocus in order to see hills and valleys in the specimen.