RQ practical: microscopes

• how to use an optical microscope to view a prepared slide:

  • place the slide onto the stage and use the clips to hold in place
  • select the lowest power objective lens - usually 4x
  • position the objective lens so it almost touches the microscope
  • look down through the eye piece- slowly turn the coarse focusing dial until the cell comes into focus
  • now use the fine focusing dial to bring the cells into a clear focus
  • at this point we can select a higher power objective lens
• look at the microscope from the side as if we look through the eyepiece there is chance we may damage the slide
• using an optical microscope we can only see limited detail

  • nucleus
  • cytoplasm
  • cell membrane