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. Microscopes are made up of lenses for magnification,
each with its own magnification powers. Depending on the type of lens, it will
magnify the specimen according to its focal strength.
Microscopes are generally made up of structural parts for holding and
supporting the microscope and its components and the optical parts which
are used for magnification and viewing of the specimen images. This
description defines the parts of a microscope and the functions they perform
to enable the visualization of specimens.

Structural parts of a microscope and their

functions
 Figure: Diagram of parts of a microscope
There are three structural parts of the microscope i.e. head, base, and arm.
1. Head – This is also known as the body. It carries the optical parts in the
upper part of the microscope.
2. Base – It acts as microscopes support. It also carries microscopic
illuminators.
3. Arms – This is the part connecting the base and to the head and the
eyepiece tube to the base of the microscope. It gives support to the head of
the microscope and it is also used when carrying the microscope. Some
high-quality microscopes have an articulated arm with more than one joint
allowing more movement of the microscopic head for better viewing.
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. These parts include:
1. Eyepiece – also known as the ocular. This is the part used to look through
the microscope. Its found at the top of the microscope. Its standard
magnification is 10x with an optional eyepiece having magnifications from
5X to 30X.
2. Eyepiece tube – it’s the eyepiece holder. It carries the eyepiece just above
the objective lens. In some microscopes such as the binoculars, the eyepiece
tube is flexible and can be rotated for maximum visualization, for variance in
distance. For monocular microscopes, they are none flexible.
3. Objective lenses – These are the major lenses used for specimen
visualization. They have a magnification power of 40x-100X. There are about
1- 4 objective lenses placed on one microscope, in that some are rare facing
and others face forward. Each lens has its own magnification power.
4. Nose piece – also known as the revolving turret. It holds the objective
lenses. It is movable hence it cal revolve the objective lenses depending on
the magnification power of the lens.
5. The Adjustment knobs – These are knobs that are used to focus the
microscope. There are two types of adjustment knobs i.e fine adjustment
knobs and coarse adjustment knobs.
6. Stage – This is the section in which the specimen is placed for viewing. They
have stage clips that hold the specimen slides in place. The most common
stage is the mechanical stage, which allows the control of the slides by
 moving the slides using the mechanical knobs on the stage instead of
moving them manually.
7. Aperture – This is a hole on the microscope stage, through which the
transmitted light from the source reaches the stage.
8. Microscopic illuminator – This is the microscopes light source, located at
the base. It is used instead of a mirror. It captures light from an external
source of a low voltage of about 100v.
9. 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. 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 more the image clarity.
More sophisticated microscopes come with an Abbe condenser that has a
high magnification of about 1000X.
10.Diaphragm – it’s also known as the iris. Its 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. For
high-quality microscopes, the diaphragm comes attached with an Abbe
condenser and combined they are able to control the light focus and light
intensity that reaches the specimen.
11.Condenser focus knob – this is a knob that moves the condenser up or
down thus controlling the focus of light on the specimen.
12.Abbe Condenser – this is a condenser specially designed for high-quality
microscopes, which makes the condenser to be movable and allows very
high magnification of above 400X. High-quality microscopes normally have a
high numerical aperture than objective lenses.
13.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.