Microscope: Parts and Function
3 structural parts of the microscope:
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. Arm – 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.
Optical parts of a microscope and
their functions:
Eyepiece – also known as the ocular.
This is the part used to look through the
microscope. It’s found at the top of the
microscope. Its standard magnification
is 10x with an optional eyepiece having
magnifications from 5X to 30X.
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.
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.
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.
The Adjustment knobs – These are
knobs that are used to focus the
microscope. There are two types of
adjustment knobs:
- fine adjustment knobs
- coarse adjustment knobs.
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.
