The Magic of a Compound Light Microscope

You will see different kinds of microscopes available in the market now. Are you familiar with a compound light microscope? This kind of microscope will let you see the smallest detail of a specimen up to 1000 times, so even the smallest object or specimen like 0.1 micrometer or 100 nanometers can still be seen by the naked eye. This is enough evidence to prove that the development of microscope really enhanced.

You might be wondering about the origin of the name of this kind of microscope. The word “light” means the process by which light passes on to your eye. The word “compound” means a microscope with only one lens. And the word microscope came form the word “micro” which means small and “scope” which means view.

Many are not aware of the range of possibilities with a compound light microscope; however, learning how to use it and understanding each part of the microscope are essential aspects in the experimentation process. An observer can learn a crash course on how to use the compound light microscope in only an hour. Here are some of the most common parts of a compound light microscope and their functions.

PARTS

It is also important for you to be familiar with its parts

Eyepiece – the magnification is 10x. It has only one eyepiece.

Body tube – you will see mirrors and prisms in this part which will straight the image to the eyepiece.

Nosepiece – this part clutches the lenses, revolves and takes note of the stop of each lens.

Objective lenses – its total magnification is the combination of ocular power and objective power.

Stage – it is a flat surface where slides are placed for viewing. You must know to put the slide properly on the stage.

Diaphragm – this part has the control in the amount of light that should pass the sample that will make effect to the image.

Focusing knobs – the utmost knob is for fine focus while the inmost knob is for course focus. You will see the focusing knobs on the side of the microscope.

Light source – it is use to have a good effect on the sample. Most often, the push button is located at the back of the light lens.

HOW IT WORKS

What is most important in microscopes is the magnification they offer. Are you familiar with the word magnification? Magnification is basically a kind of function that will make the appearance of any object bigger. Actually, you can’t achieve a good outcome of the image if the amount of detail seen does not increase concurrently. The ability of the “revolving power” is really important because it helps to see the smallest detail of the specimen. As a general rule, if the wavelength of the light source is short then the resolution of this kind of microscope is high.

Another word that you have to be familiar with is “working distance”. It is a distance between the lens and the sample. The working distance will be long if the magnification of the microscope is low. So you will notice that the working distance will decrease if the magnification of the microscope will increase. You have to be on guard with the change of working distance because it can smash up your sample.

USES

You can use this kind of microscopes in the following activities:

If you want to know and see details of colored fibers.

If you want to be up close with any stuff which you are either familiar with or not.

If you want to investigate pond water.

If you want to study about different aquatic plants.

If you want to study about onion cells.

You can also use this when you want to study about cheek cells.

CONCLUSION

Compound light microscope is called light microscope simply because it employs visible light to be able to see small objects by the naked eye. This kind of microscope is one of the most widely used microscopes in the world today. It is considered the most popular and well-used microscope especially of students, because they usually use it in biology when they study about different tissues and microorganisms. Nevertheless, many teachers and students are not aware of this kind of microscope’s great functions. Finding the right microscope is as important as the scientific experiments and inventions of our time. Many inventions and scientific experiments have been done using this type of microscope. Without this microscope, the world would have been different now.