Negative staining
Negative staining is a way to look at tiny things like bacteria or viruses under a microscope. It's called "negative" because instead of coloring the things we want to see, we color everything except for the things we want to see.
To do this, we take a little bit of the thing we want to look at and put it on a microscope slide. Then we take a special kind of stain called a "negative stain" and put it on the slide too. The negative stain is a dye that colors everything except for the tiny things we want to see, making them stand out against the background.
The stain works by making the background acidic, which repels the negatively charged stain molecules. That means the stain doesn't stick to the surface of the bacteria or virus we want to see, but it does stick to everything else.
When we look at the slide under the microscope, the bacteria or virus looks like tiny, dark shapes against a light background. This makes it easier to see and study them, like detectives trying to solve a mystery.
In summary, negative staining is a technique that helps us see tiny things under a microscope by using a special dye that colors everything except the tiny things we want to see.
To do this, we take a little bit of the thing we want to look at and put it on a microscope slide. Then we take a special kind of stain called a "negative stain" and put it on the slide too. The negative stain is a dye that colors everything except for the tiny things we want to see, making them stand out against the background.
The stain works by making the background acidic, which repels the negatively charged stain molecules. That means the stain doesn't stick to the surface of the bacteria or virus we want to see, but it does stick to everything else.
When we look at the slide under the microscope, the bacteria or virus looks like tiny, dark shapes against a light background. This makes it easier to see and study them, like detectives trying to solve a mystery.
In summary, negative staining is a technique that helps us see tiny things under a microscope by using a special dye that colors everything except the tiny things we want to see.