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How do you make an onion cell slide?

Making slides

  1. Peel a thin, transparent layer of epidermal cells from the inside of an onion.
  2. Place cells on a microscope slide.
  3. Add a drop of water or iodine (a chemical stain).
  4. Lower a coverslip onto the onion cells using forceps or a mounted needle. This needs to be done gently to prevent trapping air bubbles.

What magnification do you need to see onion cells?

Place the slide under 40x magnifying lens and observe the onion cells.

Why do you put iodine on onion cells?

The layers of an onion contain simple sugars (carbohydrates) some of which are stored as starch (starch granules). Although onions may not have as much starch as potato and other plants, the stain (iodine) allows for the little starch molecules to be visible under the microscope.

How do you make a proper wet mount of the skin cells under a compound light microscope?

Wet Mount:

  1. Place a drop of fluid in the center of the slide.
  2. Position sample on liquid, using tweezers.
  3. At an angle, place one side of the cover slip against the slide making contact with outer edge of the liquid drop.
  4. Lower the cover slowly, avoiding air bubbles.
  5. Remove excess water with the paper towel.

What is the difference between a wet and dry mount slide?

General Science ⭐Dry mount means placing sample directly on slide without putting water. Wet mount means placing a sample in drop of water on slide and then covering it with cover slip. This helps in better observation.

What is the difference between a wet mount slide and a prepared slide?

You can see more structures in a prepared slide that a wet mount. However, you can’t view anything “living” on a prepared slide; so the wet mount comes in handy if you want to observe how an organism moves, eats, reproduce etc.

Which stain is used for mounting of onion cells?

The stain used to perform experiments with onion is iodine. Iodine easily stains the cell walls of its cells due to the presence of simple carbohydrates.