Turn Your Tablet Into a Microscope

Microscope photography used to be a high-priced craft—and for high magnifications it still is. Hall Davidson, a former math teacher who works for Discovery Education, has come up with an easy project that uses an iPad or mobile-phone camera to create a 45x- or 60x-magnification device. That's ideal for looking at details of plant and insect anatomies or at the surface of anything from rocks to computer chips. "I went to the hardware store and bought every possible thing to attach it," Davidson says. Eventually, he settled on a rubber grommet and a jeweler's mini microscope glued to an iPad. We've modified the plan so that the hardware attaches to a case instead—because not everyone wants to mess with a $500 device. Commercial versions of this project are coming on the market, but ours is less expensive and more versatile.

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SUPPLIES

A. Case: Look for a thin, hard case for your device. IPad cases are available online for as little as $5.

B. Half-inch rubber grommet: available in hardware stores for under $1.

C. Jeweler's mini microscope: Also known as a currency microscope, this tool is commonly used to detect imperfections in jewelry. Look for a unit that incorporates an LED; the cheapest ones cost around $4.

D. Superglue

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Before gluing, center the grommet on the case over the camera lens opening.

2. Got the position right? Apply glue to half the grommet and attach it. Assuming you're using an iPad, the glued part of the grommet should be opposite the curved edge of the device. (The grommet will not be completely flush.)

3. Once the glue dries, insert the eyepiece into the grommet.

4. Open the camera app and turn on the scope's LED to start exploring the microverse.

Read more: Turn Your Tablet Into a Microscope - Popular Mechanics