Compound Microscope: Parts and How to Use

Question 1

What is an arm?

Answer 1

It supports the tube and connects it to the base

Question 2

What is a base?

Answer 2

The bottom of the microscope; used for support

Question 3

What is an eyepiece lens?

Answer 3

The lens at the top that you look through; usually 10x or 15x power

Question 4

What is a tube?

Answer 4

Connects the eyepiece to the objective lenses

Question 5

What is an illuminator or light source?

Answer 5

Serves as the light source for a microscope during slide specimen visualization

Question 6

What is a stage or mechanical stage?

Answer 6

Is a flat platform where you place your slide

Question 7

What are stage clips?

Answer 7

Hold the slide in place

Question 8

What is a revolving nosepiece?

Answer 8

Is the part of the microscope that holds two or multiple objective lenses and helps to rotate objective lenses; also helps to easily change power

Question 9

What is are the objective lenses?

Answer 9

There are 3 or 4 objective lenses on a microscope; they almost always consist of 4x, 10x, 40x, and sometimes 100x powers; the most common eyepiece lens is 10x and when it is coupled with others, you can find the total magnification

Question 10

What is the formula for total magnification?

Answer 10

Power of eyepiece lens x Power of objective lense

Question 11

What is a diaphragm or iris?

Answer 11

A rotating disk under the stage; controls the amount of light reaching the specimen; is located above the condenser and below the microscope stage; the different-sized holes in the diaphragm helps to vary the size of the cone and intensity of light that is projected upward into the slide

Question 12

What is a condenser or condenser lenses?

Answer 12

Are used to collect and focus the light from the illuminator on to the specimen; are usually located under the stage connected with the iris

Question 13

What is a coarse adjustment knob?

Answer 13

Large knob used for focusing the image under low power (general focusing)

Question 14

What is a fine adjustment knob?

Answer 14

Smaller knob used for focusing the image with the medium- and high-power objectives/objective lenses (fine-tuning)

Question 15

What is the stage control?

Answer 15

Allow you to move your slide; this does not move the stage (like the coarse and fine adjustment knobs do) while you are viewing it, but only if the slide is properly clipped in with the stage clips

Question 16

What is the brightness adjustment?

Answer 16

Is used to vary the light that passes through the stage opening and helps to adjust both the contrast and resolution of a specimen

Question 17

What is the light switch?

Answer 17

Turns the illuminator off and on

Question 18

What is the first step of using a compound microscope?

Answer 18

Turn the objective lenses do that the longest lens (the lowest power one) is in viewint position; be sure that there is room for it to move into place; lower the mechanical stage to make more room if needed

Question 19

What is the first step of using a compound microscope?

Answer 19

Turn the objective lenses do that the longest lens (the lowest power one) is in viewint position; be sure that there is room for it to move into place; lower the mechanical stage to make more room if needed

Question 20

What is the second step of using a compound microscope?

Answer 20

Place the slide on the mechanical stage and fasten it with the stage clips

Question 21

What is the third step of using a compound microscope?

Answer 21

Look at the side of the microscope and turn the adjustment knob until the lens is very close to, but NOT touching, the slide

Question 22

What is the fourth step of using a compound microscope?

Answer 22

Look through the eyepiece and move the adjustment knob so that the lens lifts away from the slide; the image should come into focus; be careful not to drop the lens into the face of the slide, as this may cause damage to the lens

Question 23

What is the fifth step of using a compound microscope?

Answer 23

The condenser can be adjusted to increase or decrease light intensity; you will usually want the most light possible for clearer viewing, but with low-power objective lenses, you may need to decrease the light

Question 24

What is the sixth step of using a compound microscope?

Answer 24

The slide can be moved around to center the desired image in the filed of view

Question 25

What is the seventh step of using a compound microscope?

Answer 25

Once you have a clear image with the low-power objective lenses, you may want to switch to a higher power one by switching the objective lens; because they are shorter, you don’t need to worry about turning them into the face of the slide and causing damage; this is one of the reasons we start with the lower ones

Question 26

What is the eighth step of using a compound microscope?

Answer 26

You may need to slightly adjust the focus and centering of the object you are viewing; if you try this, and it doesn’t seem to come into focus, then drop the lens to very near, but NOT touching, the slide (look from beside the microscope to do this, not through the eyepiece); and then look through the eyepiece while you slowly raise the lens away from the slide; at some point, it will come into focus for you

Question 27

What is the ninth and last step of using a compound microscope?

Answer 27

When you have finished viewing the slide, lower the mechanic stage using the adjustment knob, click the low-power lens into viewing position (in preparation for next time), and remove the slide (by pressing on the ends of the clips to release it)

Question 28

What is the formula for magnification?

Answer 28

(Size of image)/(size of real object)

Question 29

What is an electron microscope?

Answer 29

Uses beams of electrons to form images; have much higher magnifications and resolutions

Question 30

What is resolving power or resolution?

Answer 30

Is the ability to distinguish two different points as being separate

Question 31

Why is resolution important?

Answer 31

Resolution is important as otherwise two objects could actually look like one object because you can’t distinguish between them; measured in microns

Question 32

Why is the compound microscope named so?

Answer 32

Because it has two sets of lenses

Question 33

What are the stage knobs?

Answer 33

These knobs don’t move the stage up and down but rather from side to side; helps explore what’s on the slide itself but doesn’t adjust focus

Question 34

What is magnification?

Answer 34

Is the ability to make small obechts seen larger, such as making a microscopic organism visible