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2.1: Parts of the Microscope

  • Page ID
    24136
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    Become familiar with the location and function of the following parts.

    1. Arm and Base
    2. Ocular lens – magnifies by 10X
    3. Revolving nosepiece – contains 3 objective lenses
      1. scanning objective lens magnifies by 4X
      2. low power objective lens magnifies by 10X
      3. high power objective lens magnifies by 40X
    4. Stage and stage clips – hold the slide for viewing
    5. Stage adjustment knobs – located below the stage to control forward/reverse and side to side movement of the stage
    6. Coarse adjustment knob – for focusing ONLY when using scanning objective lens
    7. Fine adjustment knob –brings object into clearest focus
    8. Iris diaphragm – controls the amount of illumination to improve contrast and resolution
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    This page titled 2.1: Parts of the Microscope is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Ellen Genovesi, Laura Blinderman, & Patrick Natale via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.