Simple Microscope

A simple microscope is a magnifying glass that has a double convex lens with a short focal length.
Examples of this kind of instrument include the hand lens and reading lens. When an object is kept
near the lens, then its principal focus with an image is produced, which is erect and bigger than the
original object. The image formed is virtual and cannot be projected on a screen like a real image.

Parts of Simple Microscope?

Following are the parts of the simple microscope with their functions:

 Eyepiece: It is the lens that is used to study the samples and is placed at the top. It has a
magnification of 10X to 15X.

 Base: This provides support to the microscope.

 Tube: This is used to connect the eyepiece to the objective lenses.

 Objective lenses: These are found with the magnification of 10X, 40X and 100X and are
colour coded. The lower power lenses are the shortest lens and the highest power lenses are
the longest lens.

 Revolving nose-piece: This is also known as the turret. It is used for holding other objective
lenses and can be rotated while viewing the samples.

 Diaphragm: It is used to control the amount of light that passes through the stage.

 Stage: It is the platform used for placing the slides with samples.

 Stage clip: These are used to hold the slides in the proper place.

 Coarse adjustment knob: It is used to focus on scanning.

 Fine adjustment knob: It is used to focus on oil.

  Arm: It is used to support the tube and connects to the base of the microscope.

 Power switch: The main power switch is used to turn on or off the microscope.

 Condenser: It is used to focus the light on the sample and 400X power lenses are used.

Working of Simple Microscope

As we know that simple microscope is used to get a magnified view of the samples, it is widely used
in microbiology. Light from the light source is made to pass through a thin object which is
transparent. To get an enlarged virtual image, a biconvex lens is used. For higher magnification and
resolution, the lens must be close to the sample. By viewing the details of the sample contrast can be
obtained. This is done by staining the sample. To obtain contrast in the image, the size and intensity
of the light beam can be modified with the help of a condenser or the diaphragm.

Simple Microscope Experiments

Aim:

To make a simple microscope with the help of water.

Apparatus Required

 A glass of water

 Fuse wire

 Object to view (newspaper works well due to its fine print)

Procedure

 Make a loop of the fuse wire around 2 mm wide.

 Dip it in water so that a drop is made in the loop.

 Hold it near to your eye and take a close look at the object you have chosen.

 You may be required to get to the correct distance, but you should view a magnified image,
mainly if the drop is as close as possible to your eyes.

 Difference between Simple and

Compound Microscope
Characteristics Simple microscope Compound microscope

Number of lenses 1 objective lens 2 to 4 objective lens

used
 Adjusting knobs Has a small hollow cylindrical knob Has a curved knob which is
attached to the base which is used to used to hold the
hold the microscope microscope

Adjustment screw Has one adjustment screw used for Has a coarse adjustment
focusing by moving the limb up and screw for fine and sharp
down focus

Mirror Concave reflecting type is used Plane on one side and the
other side is concave

Compound Microscope
A compound microscope is defined as

A microscope with a high resolution and uses two sets of lenses providing a 2-dimensional image of
the sample.

The term compound refers to the usage of more than one lens in the microscope. Also, the
compound microscope is one of the types of optical microscopes. The other type of optical
microscope is a simple microscope. The difference between simple and compound microscope is that
a simple microscope uses only one lens while the compound microscope uses more than one lens.

Working Principle of Compound Microscope

A compound microscope is considered to be one of the standard microscopes that can be used for
general purposes. The arrangement of the lens is such that it magnifies the objects from the complex
system.

There are two types of lenses that are used in the compound microscope:

 The objective lens is placed close to the object that needs to be examined.

 The eyepiece allows the image to be viewed. The eyepiece is also known as the ocular lens.

The light is made to pass through the thin transparent object. A magnified image of the object is
obtained by the objective lens. This image is known as the real image. The eyepiece or the ocular
lens then magnifies the real image more and is viewed as the virtual image. The compound
microscope is also known as the bright-field microscope because the light passes directly through the
light source to the eye through the two lenses. This mechanism makes the field of vision brightly
illuminated.

Parts of Compound Microscope

The compound microscope is mainly used for studying the structural details of cell, tissue, or sections
of organs. The parts of a compound microscope can be classified into two:

 Non-optical parts
  Optical parts

Non-optical parts

Base

The base is also known as the foot which is either U or horseshoe-shaped. It is a metallic structure
that supports the entire microscope.

Pillar

The connection between the base and the arm are possible through the pillar.

Arm

The arm is also known as the limb which is a metallic handle forming the connection between the
arm to the inclined joint. The stage and the body tube is supported by the arm.

Inclination Joint

If the observation has to be done in a sitting position, then the microscope can be tilted using the
inclination joint.

Stage

It is the metallic platform that is fitted to the lower part of the arm with a hole in the center. The
microscopic slides are placed on the stage either by using side clips or by mechanical stage clips.

Body Tube

The main purpose of the body tube is to hold the objective and ocular lenses at the two ends. The
end where the ocular lens is present is known as the head while the end where the objective lens is
placed is known as the nose piece. For the passage of light rays through the body tube, there is a
pathway.

Draw Tube

The upper end of the body tube has a small fixed tube which is known as the drawtube. The main
function of the drawtube is to hold the ocular lens.

Rack and Pinion

To bring the object under focus, the rack and pinion are either attached to the body tube or the
stage.

Adjustment Screws

These are two pairs of adjusting screws that are used either for a coarse adjustment or for fine
adjustment. When a fine adjustment is made, the body tube or the stage moves extremely short
distances while in coarse adjustment, the body tube and stage move up. Through fine adjustment, a
sharp image can be obtained.

Automatic Stop

The rack and pinion have a small screw that is used for stopping the downward sliding of the body
tube. This prevents damage to the objective lens.

Optical Parts
Diaphragm

The amount of light falling on the object can be controlled through the diaphragm. It is present
below the stage. The disc and iris are the two types of diaphragm.

Condenser

It is present below the diaphragm. The focusing of light can be done by adjusting the condenser by
moving it either up or down.

Reflector

A reflector is a mirror that is attached above the base. One side of the mirror has a plane mirror
while the other side has a concave mirror. When the light is strong, the plane mirror side is used and
when the light is weak, the concave mirror side is used. The light on the object is directed with the
help of the reflector through the diaphragm and condenser.

Objective Lenses

These lenses are present over the nose piece. There are two to three types of objective lenses:

 Low power

 High power

 Oil immersion

The objective lens is a compound lens that forms a real inverted image of the image inside the body
tube.

Ocular Lens

The ocular lens is also known as the eyepiece. The image of microscopic objects can be viewed
through these lenses. There are four types of magnification that can take place in the ocular lens:

 5X

 10X

 15X

 20X

The binocular head is the device that uses two eyepieces and has many mirrors and prisms, which
makes the passage of light easier.