Practical work N°3: Optical Microscope
Microscopes are instruments that are used in science laboratories to visualize very minute objects, such as cells
and microorganisms, giving a contrasting image that is magnified. They are made up of lenses for magnification, each with
its own magnification powers. There are different types of microscopes like light microscope, dark-field microscope, phase
contrast microscope, electron microscope, fluorescent microscope, etc.
Structural parts of a microscope and their functions
1. Head – (body tube or eyepiece tube) is a cylindrical metallic tube that connects the eyepiece lens to the objective lens. The
light coming from objectives will bend inside this tube.
2. Arm – Connecting the base to the head and the eyepiece tube to the base of the microscope. It supports the head of the
microscope.
3. Base – It acts as microscopes support, it provides stability for the microscope. Illuminators, light switches, and electrical
wiring systems are fitted in the base.
Optical parts of a microscope and their functions: The optical parts of the microscope are used to view, magnify, and
produce an image from a specimen placed on a slide.
1
1. Eyepiece – (ocular Lens) located at the top of the microscope. This part is used to look at the specimen. The most common
ocular lenses are of 10X or 15X magnification.
2. Eyepiece tube – (eyepiece holder). It carries the eyepiece just above the objective lens. In binoculars microscopes, the
eyepiece tube is flexible and can be rotated for maximum visualization for variance in distance.
3. Diopter Adjustment – Is a control knob 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.
4. Nose piece – (revolving turret). It is connected to the body tube and lies just above the stage. It can be rotated clockwise
or counterclockwise to increase or decrease the magnification. The change in magnification results due to a change in the
objective lens.
5. Objective lenses – Closest to the specimen. They are fitted on the nosepiece. A standard microscope has 3 to 4 objective
lenses of different magnifying powers: 4X, 10X, 40X, and 100X. The objective lenses first receive the light transmitted
from the specimen and magnify the image for the first time. Objective lenses are color-coded and are of different sizes.
The smallest lens is of the lowest power, and gradually. (For 100X use oil immersion).
6. Adjustment knobs – or control knobs used to focus the microscope on the specimen.
a. Fine Adjustment Knob: Is used for fine adjustment. 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.
b. 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 (raised or lowered).
7. Stage – The section in which the specimen is placed for viewing. They have clips that hold the specimen slides in place.
They are mechanical, which allows the control of the slides by moving the slides using the mechanical knobs on the stage
instead of moving them manually.
8. Stage Control Knobs – used to move the stage mechanically. There are two knobs; one for moving left and right and the
other for moving forward and backward. This will move the slide in the field of vision.
9. Aperture – A hole in the microscope stage through which the transmitted light from the source reaches the stage.
10. Microscopic illuminator – Light source with different electric bulbs of low voltages are used as a constant light source.
Illuminators are tungsten-halogen lamps, 75-150W Xenon lamps, tin-halide lamps, mercury vapor lamps, etc.
11. Condenser –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. They play a major role in ensuring clear, sharp images are produced with a high
magnification of 400X and above. The higher the magnification of the condenser, the clearer the image.
12. Diaphragm – (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. It’s an adjustable apparatus, hence controlling the light intensity and the size of the beam of light
that gets to the specimen.
13. Light Switch – An electrical control device. Light switches are used to on and off the illuminator.
14. Brightness Adjustment – System controls the voltage supplied to the light bulb, controlling the intensity (brightness) of
the light bulb.
2
