ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY

Parts of the Microscope

Microscopes are instruments that are used in science laboratories to common ocular lenses are of 10X or 15X magnification. They
visualize very minute objects, such as cells and microorganisms, magnify the image for the second time.
giving a contrasting image that is magnified.
2. Eyepiece tube – It’s the eyepiece holder. It carries the eyepiece
Microscopes are made up of lenses for magnification, each with its just above the objective lens. In some microscopes, such as the
own magnification powers. Depending on the type of lens, it will binoculars, the eyepiece tube is flexible and can be rotated for
magnify the specimen according to its focal strength. maximum visualization for variance in distance. For monocular
microscopes, they are none flexible.
Their ability to function is because they have been constructed with
special components that enable them to achieve high magnification 3. Diopter Adjustment – Diopter Adjustment is a control knob
levels. They can view very small specimens and distinguish their present only in the binocular microscope that is used to change
structural differences, for example, the view of animal and plant cells focus on one eyepiece. It is used to correct any difference in
viewing microscopic bacterial cells. vision and compensate for the differences in vision between the
viewer’s two eyes.
COMPOUND MICROSCOPE
4. Nose piece – A nose piece is a movable circular structure that
houses all the objective lenses. It is also called the 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 – The objective lens is the lens that is 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. Size and color depend on the power
of the lens. The smallest lens is of the lowest power, and
gradually, the longest will be of the highest power. The high-
power lenses i.e. 40X and 100X, are retractable, i.e., their end
can be pushed inward. In most optical microscopes, objective
lenses with 100X or more magnification are of oil immersion
type.
There are three structural parts of the microscope i.e. head, arm, and
base. 6. The Adjustment knobs – Adjustment Knobs are the control
1. Head – The head is a cylindrical metallic tube that holds the knobs used to focus the microscope on the specimen. These
eyepiece lens at one end and connects to the nose piece at knobs are of two types:
another end. It is also called a body tube or eyepiece tube. It a. Fine Adjustment Knob: Fine Adjustment Knob is
connects the eyepiece lens to the objective lens. The light used for fine adjustment. It is a smaller knob and is used
coming from objectives will bend inside this tube. In binocular to move the stage up or down very slowly. The stage
microscopes, they are adjustable so that the viewer can adjust covers a very small distance on each rotation of the fine
the eyepiece for maximum visualization. adjustment knob. It is used to sharpen the image. It is
mostly used while viewing under high power.
2. Arm – This is the part connecting the base to the head and the b. Coarse Adjustment Knob: Coarse Adjustment Knob
eyepiece tube to the base of the microscope. It supports the is used for focusing the image under low power
head of the microscope and is also used when carrying the magnification. It is a larger knob and is used to move the
microscope. Some high-quality microscopes have an stage up or down very rapidly. The stage is raised or
articulated arm with more than one joint, allowing more lowered rapidly with the help of a coarse adjustment
movement of the microscopic head for better viewing. knob.

3. Base – The base is the lowermost part of the microscope that 7. Stage – This is the section in which the specimen is placed for
supports the entire microscope structure. It provides stability viewing. They have stage clips that hold the specimen slides in
for the microscope. Illuminators, light switches, and electrical place. The most common stage is the mechanical stage, which
wiring systems are fitted in the base. allows the control of the slides by moving the slides using the
mechanical knobs on the stage instead of moving
The optical parts of the microscope are used to view, magnify, and them manually.
produce an image from a specimen placed on a slide. These
8. Stage Control Knobs – Stage Control Knobs are the control
parts include:
knobs used to move the stage mechanically. There are two
1. Eyepiece – The eyepiece (ocular Lens) is closest to the
knobs; one for moving left and right and the other for moving
viewer’s eye. They are located at the top of the microscope.
forward and backward. This will move the slide in the field of
This part is used to look at the specimen. These lenses come in
vision.
different magnification powers from 5X to 30X, but the most

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 9. Aperture – This is a hole in the microscope stage through
which the transmitted light from the source reaches the stage.

10. Microscopic illuminator – A microscopic illuminator is a

light source. In some compound microscopes, a mirror, which
reflects the light from an external source to the sample, is used.
In other optical microscopes, different electric bulbs of low
voltages are used as a constant light source. Commonly used
illuminators are tungsten-halogen lamps, 75-150W Xenon
lamps, tin-halide lamps, mercury vapor lamps, etc. The
selection of types of bulbs is based on the requirement of
intensity and wavelength for illumination.

11. 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 clearer the image. More
sophisticated microscopes come with an Abbe condenser that
has a high magnification of about 1000X.

12. Diaphragm – It’s also known as the 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. 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.

13. Condenser focus knob – This is a knob that moves the

condenser up or down, thus controlling the focus of light on the
specimen.

14. Abbe Condenser – This condenser specially designed for

high-quality microscopes makes the condenser movable and
allows very high magnification above 400X. High-quality
microscopes normally have a higher numerical aperture than
objective lenses.

15. 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.

16. Light Switch – Light Switch is an electrical control device.

Light switches are used to on and off the illuminator.

17. Brightness Adjustment – The brightness adjustment system

controls the voltage supplied to the light bulb, controlling the
intensity (brightness) of the light bulb.