magnification

Everyday

1. Making something look bigger than it really is, using a lens, microscope or zoom. tree →
2. (science) How many times bigger something looks: «a magnification of ×10». tree →
3. (formal) Making something seem more important or serious than it is. tree →

In the lessons

In science, microscopes and magnifying glasses have a magnification, written like «×40», meaning things look 40 times bigger. In maths, magnification links to scale and enlargement: a scale factor of 3 makes every length 3 times longer. In art and photography, zooming in is magnification. Phrases: «high magnification», «under magnification», «×100 magnification».

Examples

• Under the microscope at ×100 magnification, we saw tiny cells. tree →
• The magnifying glass has a magnification of three times. tree →
• At low magnification you see the whole leaf. tree →
• Higher magnification shows more detail but a smaller area. tree →
• The photo of the fly was taken with strong magnification. tree →
• Magnification makes a 1 mm hair look 1 cm wide at ×10. tree →
• Binoculars give a magnification of about eight times. tree →
• Total magnification = eyepiece magnification × objective magnification. tree →

Note

Countable and uncountable. In numbers: magnification ×10 means the image is 10 times as long and 10 times as wide as the real thing (but not 10 times the area – area grows 100 times). To find a real size, divide the image size by the magnification. Verb: magnify. Not the same as «magnitude» (size, especially of earthquakes).