Lesson 4.1.1.5

4.1.1.5 Microscopy Quiz: AQA Combined Science, Unit 1

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 4.1.1.5, Microscopy: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA GCSE Combined Science (8464), Unit 1: Cell biology, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What is the correct formula to calculate magnification in microscopy?

    • Real size + image size
    • Real size ÷ image size
    • Image size ÷ real size
    • Image size × real size

  2. Which microscope has higher magnification and resolving power?

    • Hand-held loupe
    • Light microscope
    • Electron microscope
    • Magnifying glass

  3. What has the electron microscope mainly enabled biologists to see in finer detail?

    • Entire tissues
    • Whole organisms
    • Sub-cellular structures
    • Plant roots

  4. What type of microscope has a much higher resolving power?

    • Light microscope
    • Dissecting microscope
    • Compound microscope
    • Electron microscope

  5. What is defined as the ability to distinguish two close points as separate?

    • Staining depth
    • Resolving power
    • Focusing power
    • Magnification

  6. Which unit is one billionth of a metre?

    • Centimetre
    • Micrometre
    • Nanometre
    • Millimetre

  7. Which symbol is commonly used for the micrometre?

    • µm
    • cm
    • mm
    • nm

  8. What does a high resolving power in a microscope allow?

    • Distinguishing close points
    • Faster image capture
    • Brighter colour imaging
    • Larger specimen mounting

  9. An image of a cell is 40 mm wide and magnification is 1000 times. What is the real width?

    • 40 µm
    • 40 mm
    • 4 µm
    • 400 µm

  10. A bacterium is 2 µm across and appears 20 mm wide in an image. What is the magnification?

    • 10 000 times
    • 40 000 times
    • 100 times
    • 1000 times

  11. An image of a mitochondrion is 2 cm wide and magnification is 20 000. What is its real size?

    • 100 µm
    • 10 µm
    • 0.1 µm
    • 1 µm

  12. A cell is 0.1 mm wide and magnified 500 times. How wide is the image?

    • 0.5 mm
    • 5 mm
    • 500 mm
    • 50 mm

  13. A real object is 0.0000025 m across. Written in standard form, this is:

    • 2.5 × 10^-5 m
    • 2.5 × 10^-7 m
    • 2.5 × 10^-6 m
    • 2.5 × 10^6 m

  14. An image is 12 mm and the real cell is 0.003 mm. What is the magnification?

    • 4000 times
    • 40 000 times
    • 36 times
    • 400 times

  15. A 4 µm object is to be drawn at 10 000 times. How big is the image?

    • 40 mm
    • 0.4 mm
    • 400 mm
    • 4 mm

  16. A cell is magnified 250 times and the image is 75 mm wide. What is the real width?

    • 30 µm
    • 0.3 µm
    • 3000 µm
    • 300 µm

  17. Which microscope should be used to resolve fine sub-cellular structures best?

    • Electron microscope
    • Simple magnifying glass
    • Light microscope
    • Dissecting microscope

  18. What property of a microscope determines the clarity of image detail?

    • Resolving power
    • Focal length
    • Magnification
    • Field of view

  19. A real object is 6 µm and magnification is 5000. What is the image size?

    • 300 mm
    • 3 mm
    • 0.3 mm
    • 30 mm

  20. A real object is 0.8 µm and the image is 80 mm. What is the magnification?

    • 10 000 times
    • 1000 times
    • 100 000 times
    • 1 000 000 times

All AQA Combined Science quizzes