Science Station
Scheduled Times on Level 4
Come take a closer look at some of the tiny elements that make up our big world. Instead of using light, the Electron Microscope fires a beam of electricity! Every specimen has to go through the sputter coater that zaps the specimen with its gold ring that makes the specimen reflective. If you wanted to look at an ant more closely, the sputter coater would have to coat the ant with a thin layer of gold to be able to get its reflection.
The electron microscope allows you to zoom in up to 400,000 times larger than its original size! You will be able to see a selection of bugs, coins, fabrics and even dust from Mt. St. Helen! Explore the microscopic world during scheduled demonstrations of this region’s only scanning electron microscope (SEM) available to the public. View everyday objects – from hair follicles to newsprint to jewelry – magnified many thousands of times (check daily schedule for availability).
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12 January 2011
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Scanning Electron Microscope
Hello from “SEM Jim”. I will be giving demonstrations using the Scanning Electron Microscope on Monday, January 17. This time we will be looking at the capability of the SEM to determine the elemental composition of samples (what things are made of). The SEM uses a technique called energy dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy to do this.
Come see me on January 17 for a cool demonstration. Check your program guide for demonstration times or come by the SEM lab on Level 4 at the back of DinoDigs anytime between 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Hope to see you there!
