The Microscope A Look into the Looking Glass

The Microscope A Look into the Looking Glass

What is it? An instrument used for producing a magnified visual image of a small object

Who Uses It? Biologists Chemists Zoologists Criminal Justice Professionals Pharmacists These jobs most often take place in laboratories and may include collecting specimens for observation and performing experiments.

Types Simple Microscope a microscope having a single lens; ex. magnifying glass Compound Microscope Has an objective lens with a very short focal length and an eyepiece with a longer focal length in the same tube. Ultramicroscope Scatters matter to detect the position of objects too small to be seen by an ordinary microscope.

Diagram

Parts Body Tube The part of the microscope that holds the eyepiece. Arm The arm connects the body tube to the base. Base The lowest portion on which the whole structure of the microscope rests. Eyepiece The part we look through to see the specimen. It contains two or more lenses.

Parts Objective Lenses A standard compound microscope contains two primary objective lenses, which can have magnification of 4 x, 5 x, 10 x, 20 x, 40 x, 50 x, and 100 x. The magnification values are written on the side of each lens. Stage The platform below the objective lens on which the object or specimen to be viewed is placed. Stage Clips There are two stage clips, one on each side of the stage. Once the slide containing the specimen is placed on the stage, the stage clips are used to hold the slide in place.

Parts Diaphragm Located on the lower surface of the stage. It is used to control the amount of light that reaches the specimen through the hole in the stage. The Adjustments Fine Adjustment Knob: helps in adjusting the focus of the lenses with higher magnification Course Adjustment Knob: helps in improving the focus at a low power