1. Microscope
Basics
T. Trimpe

2. Bright Field Microscopy
Produces a dark image against a brighter background
Performed using a compound microscope
Compound scope has multiple sets of lenses
Magnifying 40x – 400x (possibly 1000x)

3. Ocular lens (Eyepiece)
Body Tube
Nosepiece
Arm
Objectives
Stage
Stage Clips
Coarse Adjustment
Diaphragm
Fine Adjustment
Light
Always carry a microscope with one hand holding the arm and one hand under the base.
Base

4. Components of Compound Scope
1. Eyepiece – ocular (where you put your
eyeballs)
2. Body tube - magnification housing
3. Revolving nosepiece - allows selection
and placement of objective
4. Scan objective – usually 4x
Low power objective - usually 10x
High power objective – provides highest
magnification on simple scope 40x
Stage - sample/focus platform
Clips - steady the slide
Specimen area
10. Diaphragm – directs and controls the
amount of light
11. Light source
12. Base – supports entire structure
13. Coarse adjustment - initial focus
14. Fine adjustment - “fine tune”
15. Arm - main support of the frame

5. What’s my power?
To calculate the power of magnification, multiply the power of the ocular lens by the power of the objective.
What are the powers of magnification for each of the objectives we have on our microscopes?

6. Comparing Powers of Magnification
We can see better details with higher the powers of magnification, but we cannot see as much of the image.
Which of these images would be viewed at a higher power of magnification?

7. HIGH POWER What you see FIELD OF VIEW LOW POWER
In High Power we see 25% of the low power FOV
(low power 100 x is 25% of high power 400x)
We see less of the specimen but we see more details of the specimen under high power
HIGH POWER
LOW POWER

8. Concentric Focus
Zooming in
Scan 4x
Low 10x
High 40x

9. Electron Microscope
• use a stream of electrons to view these specimens.
• magnifies up to 100,000x
Mr. Wizard

10. more