Microscope Definitions:

Arm: The part of the microscope that connects the tube to the base. When carrying a
microscope, grab the arm with one hand and place your other hand under the base.

Base: The bottom support of the microscope (see arm above).

Body: This term is used mostly with the low power stereo microscopes and it is the
basic heart of the microscope without any type of stand (base) or illuminators. It usually
includes the eyepiece and objective lenses but not the focusing block.

Coarse Focus: This is the rough focus knob on the microscope. You use it to move
the objective lenses toward or away from the specimen (see fine focus).

Condenser Lens: A lens mounted in or below the stage whose purpose is to

focus or condense the light onto the specimen. The higher power objective
lenses have very tiny diameters and require concentrated light to work
properly. By using a condenser lens you will increase the Illumination and
resolution. Condenser lenses are not required on low power microscopes.

Cover Slip: A very thin square piece of glass or plastic placed over the specimen on a
microscope slide. When used with liquid samples, it flattens out the liquid and assists
with single plane focusing.

Diaphragm: Generally a five hole disc placed under the stage on a high power
microscope. Each hole is of a different diameter. By turning it, you can vary the
amount of light passing through the stage opening. This will help to properly illuminate
the specimen and increase contrast and resolution. The diaphragm is most useful at
the higher powers.

Eyepiece Lens: The lens at the top of the microscope that you look into. They are
usually 10X but also are available in 5X, 15X and 20X. Widefield lenses have a large
diameter and show a wide area of the field of view.

Fine Focus: This is the knob used to fine tune the focus on the specimen. It is also
used to focus on various parts of the specimen. Generally one uses the coarse focus
first to get close then moves to the fine focus knob for fine tuning.

1
Field of View: Sometimes abbreviated "FOV", it is the diameter of the circle of light
that you see when looking into a microscope. As the power gets greater, the field of
view gets smaller. You can measure this by placing a clear metric ruler on the stage
and counting the millimeters from one side to the other. Typically you will see about
4.5mm at 40X, 1.8mm at 100X, 0.45mm at 400X and 0.18mm at 1000X. See
micrometer.

Focus: A means of moving the specimen closer or further away from the objective lens
to render a sharp image. On some microscopes, the stage moves and on others, the
tube moves. Rack and pinion focusing is the most popular and durable type.

Head: The upper part of the microscope that contains the eyepiece tube and prisms. A
monocular head has one eyepiece, a binocular has two (one for each eye), a dual head
has two but they are not together, and a trinocular head has three, one which is
generally used for a camera connection.

Illuminator: A light source mounted under the stage. Three types of light are
commonly used: Tungsten, Fluorescent and Halogen. Tungsten is the least expensive
and most common. Fluorescent is bright, white and runs cool and Halogen is very
bright and white but gives off heat like tungsten.

Immersion Oil: A special oil used in microscopy with only the 100X objective lens
(usually at 1000X total power). A drop is placed upon the cover slip and the objective is
lowered until it just touches the drop. Once brought into focus, the oil acts as a bridge
between the glass slide and the glass in the lens. This concentrates the light path and
increasing the resolution of the image. Both Type A and Type B are commonly used in
light microscopy and the only difference is the viscosity (B is more viscous).

Micrometer: Also called a micron it is the metric linear measurement used in

microscopy. There are 1000 microns in a millimeter. If something is 1.8mm long then it
can also be expressed as 1,800 microns (or micrometers) long.

Mirror: Allows you to direct ambient light up through the hole in the stage and
illuminate the specimen.

Nosepiece: The part of the microscope that holds the objective lenses also called a
revolving nosepiece or turret.

Objective Lens: The lens closest to the object. In a stereo (low power) microscope
there are objective pairs, one lens for each eyepiece lens. This gives the 3-D effect.
On a high power binocular model there is still only one objective lens so no stereo
vision.

Oil Immersion Lens: An objective lens (usually 100X or greater) designed to work with
a drop of special oil placed between it and the slide. With oil, an increase in resolution
will be noticed. Also, see "Immersion Oil" above.

2
Pointer: When you look through the eyepiece lens, you may see a pointer. By turning
the eyepiece, you can rotate the pointer around.

Resolution: The ability of a lens system to show fine details of the object being
observed.

Slide: A flat glass or plastic rectangular plate that the specimen is placed on. It may
have a depression or well to hold a few drops of liquid.

Slip Clutch: When students bring the focus all the way up or down and continue to try
turning the knob, damage to the focusing system can occur if there wasn't a slip clutch.
It is a mechanical device that protects the gears of the microscope.

Stage: The flat plate where the slides are placed for observation.

Stage Clips: Clips on the stage used to hold the slide in place.

X: Times as in 200X or two hundred times magnification. The magnification of a

microscope is determined by multiplying the power of the eyepiece lens by the power of
the corresponding objective lens.