Can you see vitamins and minerals on microscopes ?

Do you have any microscopy questions, which you are afraid to ask? This is your place.
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Kalleboy
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Can you see vitamins and minerals on microscopes ?

#1 Post by Kalleboy » Sat Jan 14, 2017 8:38 am

Hi
Can you see vitamins and minerals on microscopes ?
- Like: B12, Omega 3, Zinc, Copper, Magnesium, Iron, C, A, D, Ginseng, and such ?
  • How to identify them ? (Crushing pills, berries,...)
  • Can I count them so I can prove certain vitamin products/pills really have what is written on their contents: like 100mg, 10mg of that and that ?

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Oliver
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Re: Can you see vitamins and minerals on microscopes ?

#2 Post by Oliver » Sat Jan 14, 2017 1:52 pm

Hello,
You can not see the individual vitamin molecules and also not minerals. They are way too small. You can crystallize the vitamins, however and observe them under polarized light. And this is indeed an interesting thing to do with a microscope.

Oliver.
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zzffnn
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Re: Can you see vitamins and minerals on microscopes ?

#3 Post by zzffnn » Sat Jan 14, 2017 2:02 pm

I am sorry, but you have been asking many of those kinds of questions without even trying to Google.

I pretended that I did not know the answer and googled "chemical microscope" and found answer (polzarized light) in the first two pages of search results.

Or please read a beginner book about microscopy first. That way you learn more.

No, you cannot quantify active ingredients in a medicine bill without using analytical chemistry instruments, such as HPLC and MS. Microscope is usually not considered as an analytical chemistry instrument.

charlie g
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Re: Can you see vitamins and minerals on microscopes ?

#4 Post by charlie g » Sat Jan 14, 2017 3:28 pm

You can detect the presance of many specific vitamins with microscopic observations of the concentration of numerous protozoa in a specific volume of fluid these protozoa are suspended in.

Certain species of Euglena flagelates 'used to be used' for detection of concentration of vitamin B12 in solutions or source substances being evaluated for B12 content. This bioassay method is extremely accurate. But you first need a known standard B12 concentration solution, you first need absurdly precise sources of organism and it's culture fluid.

These bioassays are too tedious and now more direct means exist to quantitatively 'see vitamins' in unknown source substances.

When you dip a strip of litmus paper into a water sample..you are 'seeing results of hydrogen ion concentration'..you are not 'seeing hydrogen ions'.

charlie guevara

Kalleboy
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Re: Can you see vitamins and minerals on microscopes ?

#5 Post by Kalleboy » Mon Jan 16, 2017 5:17 am

Ok thanks.
Seems microscopes are pretty much way over hyped.(watching too many science movies)
I'll just stick to watching coins and rocks.
Was hoping to use it for more exciting works. People just suggest watching pond "animals" or yeast growing which to me are very boring and pointless things to do ;) .

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billben74
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Re: Can you see vitamins and minerals on microscopes ?

#6 Post by billben74 » Mon Jan 16, 2017 12:15 pm

Ok thanks.
Seems microscopes are pretty much way over hyped.(watching too many science movies)
I'll just stick to watching coins and rocks.
Well....
One of my major interests is too look at crystals of different substances (e.g. vitamins), normally using crossed polaroid filters.
Sure you can't see the atoms or the molecules but you can see a lot very interesting things like the huge variety of crystaline forms and amazing colours.
You can also watch the crystals grow, which you know, even if you can't see, is due to the molecules coming out of solutions and adhering to the surfaces of the molecules.
Its really fun and quite addictive.

Occationally you can see the effects of molecules. Brownian motion can be viewed in various ways (try googling, searching this forum).
I have sometimes seen this with very small crystals. Its amazing.
I saw the faces fo the crystals turning and giggling around due collisions with the solution's molecules.

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Crater Eddie
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Re: Can you see vitamins and minerals on microscopes ?

#7 Post by Crater Eddie » Mon Jan 16, 2017 2:10 pm

Pointless?
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billbillt
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Re: Can you see vitamins and minerals on microscopes ?

#8 Post by billbillt » Mon Jan 16, 2017 4:19 pm

Crater Eddie wrote:Pointless?
Ditto from me..

BillT

paradoxbox
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Re: Can you see vitamins and minerals on microscopes ?

#9 Post by paradoxbox » Sat Jun 17, 2017 1:15 pm

You could make a spectrophotometer to detect whether certain substances are in the pills, but you would not be able to get an accurate count of how much of each substance is in each pill purely by spectrophotometry.

You might be able to crush the pills into a powder and use a centrifuge at varying G loads to separate each substance into layers, but I don't have any experience with this. There may be other more simple ways of doing this too.

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Re: Can you see vitamins and minerals on microscopes ?

#10 Post by billbillt » Sat Jun 17, 2017 4:03 pm

Kalleboy wrote:Ok thanks.
Seems microscopes are pretty much way over hyped.(watching too many science movies)
I'll just stick to watching coins and rocks.
Was hoping to use it for more exciting works. People just suggest watching pond "animals" or yeast growing which to me are very boring and pointless things to do ;) .
What could be BORING AND POINTLESS about searching for and observing pond "animals"????.. You need to get a different hobby!!...

BillT

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Re: Can you see vitamins and minerals on microscopes ?

#11 Post by 75RR » Sat Jun 17, 2017 4:27 pm

Guys, this is an old post that has been resurrected.
Original poster has not posted in a while. Let it be.
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