When you change magnification in the virtual magnification tutorial, what happens to resolution?

Answer 1

I have not seen the virtual microscope site, so I can't say definitively. However, I believe there are two possibilities: 1) the site's virtual scope is not confocal, so when the magnification is changed, the object is not in focus. If you adjusted the focus, you might be able to see it more clearly.
2) in changing the lens, you got what is called "empty" magnification without additional resolution. See the site below for an illustration of that.

Answer 2

Generally, the resolution will increase as magnification increase. The "resolution" or the picture sharpness will display more information in a smaller area when magnified. At greater magnification, a higher resolution makes the image much clearer. However, some LCD screen displays are fixed at a certain resolution, no matter what the magnification.

The interactive virtual tutorial allows you to investigate how microscope depth-of-focus can be modulated to bring various parts of a very thick specimen into sharp focus. The program will ajdust the resolution for you automatically. It's pretty cool stuff, because students who never used a microscope before can use it and learn all the basic concepts of microscopy.

Have fun!