Lab Act 2

• Parts of the Microscope

  • Base
  • Pillar
  • Handle or Arm
  • Inclination Joint/Screw
  • Body tube
  • Draw tube
  • Revolving nosepiece
  • Dust shield
  • Adjustment Knob
  • Stage
  • Clips
  • Mirror Rack
  • Ocular or Eyepiece
  • Objectives
  • Mirror
  • Iris diaphragm
  • Condenser
• There are several types of microscopes, the most common is the compound microscope. It utilizes a series of lenses of glasses to concentrate light through or onto the object. The convex objective lenses make the object appear bigger. The images are mostly viewed in the eyepiece binoculars of a microscope that gives additional magnification and acts like a magnifying glass
• Base: Y or U-shaped stand that supports the microscope
• Pillar: A short piece of metal attached to the end of the base. It also supports the microscope
• Body tube: The cylindrical structure vertically arising from the handle. It holds the dust shield and nosepiece with the objectives at the lower end.
• Inclination Joint/Screw: Found at the junction of the pillar and the handle. Used to tilt the microscope
• Draw tube: The upper smaller end of the Body Tube bearing the eyepiece or ocular.
• Revolving nosepiece: the circular structure at the lower end of the body tube to which the objectives are attached.
• Dust shield: A thin circular structure above the nosepiece used to protect the lenses of the objectives
• Adjustment Knob. Two pairs of wheels attached to either side of the body tube:
• Course Adjustment Knob: The bigger wheel used to adjust low power objective in focusing.
• Fine adjustment Knob. The smaller wheel used for delicate focusing

  in connection with the high power and oil-immersion objectives.
• Handle or Arm: The curved metallic part arising from the pillar. Used to hold the microscope.
• Stage. The square or circular platform with an opening at the center while the slide is placed during focusing.
• Clips. The paired structures on either side of the stage used to hold the slide in place.
• Mirror Rack. Found below the stage and attached to the pillar used to hold the mirror.
• Ocular or Eyepiece. Found at the draw tube through which the observer peeps during actual focusing.
• Objectives: The tube-like structures attached to the revolving nosepiece
• Scanner. The shortest tube that forms a whole view of the specimen
• Low Power Objective (LPO). Slightly longer tube that forms a bigger image of the object
• High Power Objective (HPO): Next longer tube that gives a much enlarged and more detailed view of the specimen.
• Oil immersion Objective: Another objective as long as the HPO but with a much bigger degree of magnification. Usually used when studying microorganisms. The lens is used with an immersion oil or cedar oil.
• Mirror. Found below the stage near the base provided with concave and plane surfaces. Used to collect and direct light to the object.
• Iris diaphragm. Found below the stage consisting of regularly arranged circular blades. The opening could be adjusted to regulate the amount of light reflected by the mirror on the object.
• Condenser. A lens found immediately beneath the hole of the stage. Used to

  concentrate light rays into the specimen.
• magnification is the degree to which an object is made bigger by using optical instruments, while resolution is the power of an optical instrument to capture and produce more details of an image.