resolving power

American  

noun

1. Optics. the ability of an optical device to produce separate images of close objects.

2. Photography. the degree to which a lens or photographic emulsion is able to define the details of an image.

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resolving power British  

noun

1. Also called: resolution. physics

   1. the ability of a microscope, telescope, or other optical instrument to produce separate images of closely placed objects

   2. the ability of a spectrometer to separate two adjacent peaks in a spectrum

2. photog the ability of an emulsion to show up fine detail in an image

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Etymology

Origin of resolving power

First recorded in 1875–80

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

resolving power

In two-dimensional liquid chromatography, compounds are separated in two different ways, giving scientists much greater resolving power when working with samples containing many closely related chemicals.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

The effective resolving power of each observation was obtained from fits to unsaturated telluric absorption lines and yielded mean values of 4,290, 8,150 and 5,750 in the ultraviolet B, visible and near-infrared arms, respectively.

From Nature ● Oct. 15, 2017

A telescope’s resolving power depends on the width of its aperture.

From Economist ● Jan. 7, 2016

Thus the microscope has more information to form a clear image, and so its resolving power will be higher.

From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015

The resolving power of a telescope with circular or rectangular aperture is easily investigated experimentally.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 4 "Diameter" to "Dinarchus" by Various

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