How Microscopes Work
Introduction
"Micro" refers to tiny, "scope" refers to view or look at. Microscopes are tools used to enlarge images of small
objects so as they can be studied. The compound light microscope is an instrument containing two lenses,
which magnifies, and a variety of knobs to resolve (focus) the picture. Because it uses more than one lens, it is
sometimes called the compound microscope in addition to being referred to as being a light microscope. In this
lab, we will learn about the proper use and handling of the microscope.
Pre-Lab
Word Bank
Cover slip Dropper Forceps Microscope Slide
Word Bank
Eye piece Objectives Stage
Light Source Coarse Focus Fine Focus
A ____________________________________
I _____________________________________
E ____________________________________
J _____________________________________
G _____________________________________
H _____________________________________
Red = 4x
Which one is the low power objective? ________
Yellow = 10x
Which one is the medium power objective? _____
Blue = 40x
Which one is the high power objective? _______
A. Determining Total Magnification:
1. Locate the numbers on the eyepiece and the low power objective and fill in the blanks below.
Eyepiece magnification Objective magnification Total Magnification
(X) =
(Low Red) ______________ ______________ _____________X
2. Do the same for the high-power objective.
Eyepiece magnification Objective magnification Total Magnification
(X) =
(High Blue) ______________ ______________ _____________X
1) Which objective would provide the best magnification? ______________
B. Creating a ‘wet mount’
1. A microscope slide prepared with water and a coverslip is called a _________ ________.
2. Use scissors to cut out a small lower case e from a piece of newspaper. Note: Do not use one from a
headline.
3. With a dropper, place one drop of water in the middle of a clean glass microscope slide.
4. With forceps, place the letter e in the drop of water as seen in the diagram below.
5. Hold a coverslip at a 45° angle to the slide at the edge of the drop of water as seen in the diagram. Lower
the coverslip slowly (you can use your fingers to do this) to avoid forming air bubbles. Under the
microscope, air bubbles look round and have dark edges.
C. Observing the Letter “e”
PROCEDURE
1. Take the Letter ‘e’ wet mount slide.
2. Place the slide on the stage and view in low power (4x). Center the “e” in your field of view. **Make
sure you can see the whole entire e in your field of view. Draw what you see in Figure 1.
3. View the specimen in high power (10x). Use the fine adjustment only to focus.
Draw what you see in Figure 2.
**Use only H at low power (red)
**Use only I at high power (blue)
Data: Part 1- The letter “e”
Figure 1: Drawing of the letter Figure 2: Drawing of the letter
“e” in low power (4x) “e” in high power (40x).
ANALYSIS:
1. What are the differences between how an ‘e’ looks without the microscope and how it looks under the
microscope?
___________________________________________________________________.
2. Why does a something placed under the microscope have to be thin? ________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
D. Observing the depth of string in a * shape
PROCEDURE:
1. Obtain the slide with three different colored strings.
2. Place the slide under the microscope and observe at low power.
1. What did you notice about the strings in the star shape? ________________________________________
2. Which string was on top? ___________
3. Which string was on the bottom? ________________________
Analysis
1) Why should we lower the coverslip at a 45 degree angle? ____________________________________
2) What objective would you use to observe a fruit fly? _______________
3) What objective would you use to observe the inside of a cell? ________________
a. Why would you use two different objectives to observe these two organisms? _______________
______________________________________________________________________________
