Understanding how each of the parts of the microscope works is important if you are really going to understand the microscope. This will make you an expert on the subject and allow you to intelligently assess how well one is performing and whether you need a replacement part. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the topic of microscope parts and how they work.
Generations of people around the world have made use of the microscope. Through the decades and centuries, its basic design has remained largely the same. Although microscopes have changed over the years, from the basic light microscope to electron microscopes, the parts and functions of a compound microscope are remarkably the same.
A microscope will only work properly as long as each of its individual parts is working properly. When a part stops working properly, it is likely to completely hamper the effectiveness of the instrument. The main parts of most microscopes are the tube, lenses, illuminator, arm, adjustment knobs, and stage.
You will find two basic types of lenses on the typical microscope. The first of the lenses is the eyepiece lens (or “ocular lens” as it is also called). This eyepiece lens is located at the top of the microscope. This is the part that the user of the microscope looks through. It is usually not adjustable. The second lens of the microscope is known as the objective lens. It is the one that provides most of the magnification of the instrument. In fact, most microscopes have not one, but several objective lenses. Each objective lens varies in magnification strength.
The objective lenses of the microscope are part of a circular portion of the scope. It is located between the eyepiece and the stage. The user selects the objective lens based on the power required and the power provided by that objective lens. If the user wants a different zoom level, he rotates the circular disk, thus placing a different lens on the stage. The connection of the ocular lens and the objective lenses is the part of the microscope called the tube. The user looks through the ocular lens and through the tube, finally seeing through the fundus, through one of the objective lenses.
The specimen or object to be examined is placed on a part called a slide. The slides are secured to the stage through the use of clamps. In these slides will be the specimens to be examined, specimens such as blood or microorganisms. Immediately below the stage is something like a mirror or, in a compound light microscope, a light. This mirror or light is called an illuminator, and it is what makes it easier for the user to see the sample.
Finally, there are a couple of adjustment knobs on most microscope types. Adjusters are used to help focus lenses. The coarse is the larger of these two knobs, the one that brings the lens and stage closer together. The fine adjuster is the smallest of the adjustment knobs. The user first adjusts the coarse knob and then the smaller one to give the small adjustments needed to bring the object into focus more clearly.
These parts and functions of the microscope are the same in almost every microscope you will come across. There is a little variation, with slightly different parts in some (for example, in an electron microscope, there will be electron beams instead of typical illuminators – so it varies a bit from compound microscope parts and functions). However, the basic functions and parts are the same. By learning how each of these microscope parts works, it will be easier for you to tell a good microscope from a bad one.