Parts of Microscope

• Head


  is a cylindrical metallic tube that holds the eyepiece lens at one end and connects to the nose piece at other end. It is also called a body tube or eyepiece tube.
• Arm


  It supports the head of the microscope and is also used when carrying the microscope.
• Base


  is the lowermost part of the microscope that supports the entire microscope structure. It provides stability for the microscope.
• Eyepiece


  is closest to the viewer's eye. They are located at the top of the microscope. This part is used to look at the specimen.
• Eyepiece Tube


  It's the eyepiece holder. It carries the eyepiece just above the objective lens.
• Diopter Adjustment


  present only in the binocular microscope that is used to change focus on one eyepiece. It is used to correct any difference in vision and compensate for the differences in vision between the viewer's two eyes.
• Nose Piece


  a movable circular structure that houses all the objective lenses. It is also called the revolving turret. It can be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise to increase or decrease the magnification.
• Objective Lenses


  is the lens that is closest to the specimen. They are fitted on the nosepiece. First receive the light transmitted from the specimen and magnify the image for the first time.
• The Adjustment Knobs


  control knobs used to focus the microscope on the specimen.
• Fine Adjustment Knob


  It is a smaller knob and is used to move the stage up or down very slowly. It is used to sharpen the image. It is mostly used while viewing under high power magnification.
• Coarse Adjustment Knob


  used for focusing the image under low power magnification. It is a larger knob and is used to move the stage up or down very rapidly.
• Stage


  This is the section in which the specimen is placed for viewing. They have stage clips that hold the specimen slides in place.
• Stage Control Knobs


  control knobs used to move the stage mechanically.
• Aperture


  This is a hole in the microscope stage through which the transmitted light from the source reaches the stage.
• Microscopic Illuminator


  is a light source.
• Condenser


  These are lenses that are used to collect and focus light from the illuminator into the specimen. They are found under the stage next to the diaphragm of the microscope.
• Diaphragm


  It's also known as the iris. It is found under the stage of the microscope, and its primary role is to control the amount of light that reaches the specimen.
• Condenser focus knob


  This is a knob that moves the condenser up or down, thus controlling the focus of light on the specimen.
• Abbe Condenser


  This condenser specially designed for high-quality microscopes makes the condenser movable and allows very high magnification above 400X.
• The Rack Stop


  It controls how far the stages should go, preventing the objective lens from getting too close to the specimen slide, which may damage the specimen. It is responsible for preventing the specimen slide from coming too far up and hitting the objective lens.
• Light Switch


  is an electrical control device, used to on and off the illuminator.
• Brightness Adjustment


  controls the voltage supplied to the light bulb, controlling the intensity (brightness) of the light bulb.
• Fine adjustment knob - is used for fine adjustment. Is use to move the stage up or down very slowly. It is used to sharpen the image.
• Coarse adjustment knob - is used for focusing the image under low power magnification