What does the term resolving power refer to?

Answer 1

The question is about the resolving power of optical instruments like telescope and microscope.

It is the ability of the instrument to resolve the images of two points that are close to each other. If dθ is the angular separation, resolving power is given by the formula

R = 1/dθ = D/1.22 λ where Dis the aperture of the objective; λ is the wavelength of the light .

Answer 2

Resolution is the ability of a lens to separate or distinguish between small objects that are close together. Much of the optical theory underlying microscope design was developed by the German physicist Ernst Abbe in the 1870s. The minimum distance (d) between two objects that reveals them as separate entities is given by the Abbe equation, in which lambda () is the wavelength of light used to illuminate the specimen and n sin theta is the numerical aperture (NA). d= .5 x lambda n sin theta

Answer 3

Resolving power is a function of numerical aperture of the objective lens use in the microscope and the wavelength of light . The formula for resolving power is given as , RP= wavelength / (2 x NA) where NA is the numerical aperture.

Answer 4

The ability of an optical device to shownearby points on anobjectas separate images.

This is obviouslyimportant in microscopes andtelescopes.

Answer 5

The clarity of the image in showing two objects as separate.