Microscope: Micrometry and the Microbial World

Fuentes, Michelle Joy C., Hariramani, Ma. Patricia R., Lao, Cassius Uriel S., &
Lee, Joel
2 Biology 6, Department of Biology, College of Science, UST, Manila

Introduction
Microscope, instrument that produces
enlarged images of small objects, allowing the
observer an exceedingly close view of minute
structures at a scale convenient for
examination and analysis. The light compound
microscope is the commonly used instrument
by microbiologist, it is consist of different
aligned lenses working together to magnify or
enlarge the image of a specimen under
observation. The first lens also known as the
objective lens, magnifies the specimen then
the image produced is magnified further with
the second lens called the ocular. Visible light
is used as a light source in order to see the
specimen, thus it name Light Compound
Microscope.
The microbial world is the largest
assembly of a wide variety of organisms
occurring nearly everywhere in nature. There
are currently 6 proposed kingdoms and 3
domains.
The 6 kingdoms are bacteria,
archaea, Protista, Animalia, plantae and fungi.
The 3 domains are the Archaea, Bacteria and
Eukarya. The prokaryotes and the eukaryotes
are, in general, viewed under the compound
either in their living or fixed / stained state.
This process facilitates observation of their
morphological and in some locomotory
properties.

Materials
-

Microscope
Prepared slides of bacteria, yeast,
mold, algae, and protozoans.
Algae from pond water
yakult

Methodology
Measurement of Microorganisms.
The ocular micrometer was inserted

into the circular shelf of the microscope

containing the eyepiece. Remove first the
ocular lens before inserting the micrometer.
Then place back the ocular lens in the
microscope. On the stage the stage
micrometer was mounted. The scale of the
stage micrometer was centered with the lowpower objective. Then then micrometer was
observed under OIO. The micrometer was
rotated until the lines of the ocular micrometer
are superimposed on the lines of the stage
micrometer. The spaces of stage and ocular
micrometer were counted until the lines of
micrometers coincide again. Then the
calibration factor was then calculated.

Results and Discussion

The light compound microscope is the
commonly used instrument by microbiologist,
it is consist of different aligned lenses working
together to magnify or enlarge the image of a
specimen under observation. The first lens
also known as the objective lens, magnifies
the specimen then the image produced is
magnified further with the second lens called
the ocular. Visible light is used as a light
source in order to see the specimen, thus it
name Light Compound Microscope.
The compound microscope was
invented by Zacharias Jansen in 1595, Robert
Hooke used a compound microscope and was
the first to introduce the word cell in 1665.
The human eye is also an optical system with

a resolving power of 0.1 mm anything less

than that cannot be seen anymore. The
resolving power of a microscope can also be
defined as its ability to gather fine details.
The resolving power is much more
important the magnification because what is
the use of having 5000x microscope with the
image being blurred. Thats the reason that
the highest useful magnification of the light
compound microscope is 1000x. With the help
of the microscope biologist and microbiologist
were able to discover and distinguished the
microbial world.
The microbial world is the largest
assembly of a wide variety of organisms
occurring nearly everywhere in nature. There
are currently 6 proposed kingdoms and 3
domains.
The 6 kingdoms are bacteria,
archaea, Protista, Animalia, plantae and fungi.
The 3 domains are the Archaea, Bacteria and
Eukarya. The prokaryotes and the eukaryotes
are, in general, viewed under the compound
either in their living or fixed / stained state.
This process facilitates observation of their
morphological and in some locomotory
properties.

21x10um = 10um
30
0
HPO:

40

Yeast
24x
0

30

40

2.5um= 10um
Conclusion
The microscope consist of different parts,
for example the arm, base, mirror and the
objective lens etc.

In the laboratory we were asked to

calculate for the calibration factor. The results
are shown to the solution below.
LPO:
0.01x20 x 1000um = 10mm
20
1mm
HPO:
0.01x10 x 1000um = 2.5mm
40
1mm
The stage micrometer was then replaced
with provided stained cells. The cell was
measured in diameter using the calibrated
ocular micrometer, the dimension in
micrometer was expressed in (um). It is the
ocular micrometer that is calibrated against
the stage micrometer and the calibration is
done for each objective used in measuring
cells.

LPO:
Yeast

But the most important parts are the

one you use to magnify things, for example
the eyepiece, objective lens, coarse focus and
the fine coarse. But what is the use of 5000x
microscope if the image of the specimen
produced blurred? The resolving power is
much more important because it has the
ability to gather fine details of the specimen
observed. Micrometry, the measurement of
things seen through a microscope, is
important for investigators across a number of
disciplines. It is important to know the size of
things being viewed and investigated so
comparisons can be made. The usage of

immersion oil in the oil immersion objective is

to increase the resolution of a microscope.