Used in light microscopy to increase the resolution of microscope.
In microscopy, the image quality is related to the optical properties of the immersion oil used. It is oil placed on a slide of material to be examined using a particular, 100x objective lens on a compound microscope. The lens is moved down toward the slide and into the oil, thus there is no air gap between the slide and the lens. It is meant to have the refractive index of glass so as not to refract the beams of light being focused on the item being examined. Basically this means that all light beams are focused onto the object to be examined, as opposed to light beams going through air and being scattered, thus losing some of their power. Using oil results in higher brightness at high magnification (1000x), and high image resolution.
Appearance: Colourless to pale yellow viscous liquid.
