Microscopy
Introduction
Microscopes are useful for viewing objects that are too small to see clearly without magnification. This exercise is designed to familiarize students with the use of a compound light microscope and a binocular dissecting microscope.
Before using the microscope, read the document on microscope care using the link below.
http://faculty.clintoncc.suny.edu/faculty/Mike.Lawliss/LabRefandOrient/Microsccope.htm
Compound Light Microscope
The compound light microscope uses two sets of lenses to magnify the object. Illumination is provided by a light source on the base of the microscope. The magnification typically ranges from approximately 40 X to 1,000 X. They can be used with objects that range in size from about 100 nm to 2 mm.
Parts of the Light Microscope
The stage is a platform that holds the slide containing the specimen to be viewed. A mechanical stage (see the photographs below) has a mechanism for moving the slide.
A light microscope must have a light source. This is usually a light bulb located beneath the stage.
An adjustable diaphragm located beneath the stage is used to regulate the amount of light that passes through.
A condenser contains two sets of lenses that concentrate light. It is located directly underneath the stage. Light from the light source passes through the diaphragm and condenser before continuing up through the specimen to be viewed.
The body tube contains an ocular lens (eyepiece) and a nosepiece with several objective lenses. Each objective lens is used for a different magnification and is moved into place by rotating the nosepiece. The image is brought into focus by adjusting the coarse and fine focus knobs.
Click on the photographs to view enlargements.
After viewing, press the "Back" key to return here.
Binocular microscopes (below) have two eyepieces; monocular microscopes (above) have one. The distance between the two ocular lenses of a binocular microscope can be adjusted to fit the distance between your eyes.
Other optical devices such as binocular telescopes and field glasses also have two ocular lenses that adjust in a manner similar to the microscope. Binocular lenses can be adjusted individually, making it unnecessary for many people to need their glasses when using them. If you wear glasses and are unfamiliar with adjusting binocular lenses to correct for your own eyes, see the section titled "Adjusting the Ocular Lenses" below.
Click on the photographs to view enlargements.
Theory
Compound light microscopes contain two lens systems, an objective and an ocular. The total magnification of an image is calculated by multiplying the magnification of the ocular by the magnification of the objective. The microscopes we will use each have a 10X ocular lens and four different objective lenses listed in the table below.
Objective Magnification Total Magnification Scanning 4 X 40 X Low Power 10 X 100 X High Power 40 X or 43 X 400 X or 430 X Oil Immersion 100 X 1000 X Light bends when it passes from glass to air or from air to glass because air and glass have different refractive indices. The bending of light as it passes through the glass slide to the air and then to the glass lens decreases the resolving power. At high magnification (1000X) it can prevent a clear image from being viewed. This decrease in resolution can be prevented by putting immersion oil between the slide and the lens because immersion has the same refractive index as glass. Oil immersion will not be used in this class.
The condenser also increases the resolving power of the microscope. When using the oil-immersion lens, the condenser (located beneath the stage) should be raised to a position very close to the stage for maximum resolution.
Using the Microscope
CAUTION - Never use cloth or paper products (paper towels, tissue paper, etc.) to clean the lenses. They will scratch the coating and decrease the resolving power of the lens. Use only lens paper.
Switch the microscope to the lowest magnification or raise the objectives from the stage before inserting a slide. This will prevent the objective lens from being accidentally scratched by the slide.
Place the slide to be viewed on the stage and center the specimen over the opening.
Begin with either the scanning lens or the low power objective lens.
Raise the stage (or lower the lens) all the way so that the slide is as close as possible to the objective lens.
Use the coarse adjustment know to slowly raise the lens from the stage while viewing the image. Fine focusing is not needed when using the lowest magnification (scanning or 4X objective). If you are using any of the other objectives, it will be necessary to use the fine focus after using the coarse focus.
Adjust the condenser so that a sharp focus is produced. This step is important at the highest magnification (oil immersion or 1000X).
Adjust the iris diaphragm. This will need readjustment after changing to a different magnification.
To Increase the Magnification
The microscopes are parfocal, meaning that after you adjust the focus, the image will remain approximately in focus if you change the magnification.
Center the object before switching to a higher power objective. This will help you find the object after switching the objective.
Switch to the next highest power. It will be necessary to center the image again. The image should be approximately in focus but it will be necessary to use the fine focus. The coarse focus should not be needed after switching objectives.
Adjust the diaphragm.
This procedure is repeated each time you switch to a higher magnification.
Practice Using the Microscope
- Obtain a slide of colored threads and view them under the scanning and low power. Use the focusing procedure described above.
1) Can you tell which thread is above the other?
View the threads under high power (400X or 430X). Use the fine focus to focus to determine the order of the threads from top to bottom. As you rotate the fine focus, different strands will go out of focus while others will become more sharply focused. This procedure will therefore enable you to determine the order of the threads.
2) Are all of the threads in focus at the same time when viewed at high power?
3) What is the order (from top to bottom)?
"Depth of field" refers to the thickness of the plane of focus. With a large depth of field, all of the threads can be in focused at the same time. With a smaller or narrower depth of field, only one thread or a part of one thread can be focused, everything else will be out of focus. In order to view the other threads, you must focus downward to view the ones underneath and upward to view the ones that are above.
4a) What happens to the depth of field when you increase to a higher magnification (increases, decreases, or remains the same)?
4b) Explain how the slide with threads could be used to answer the question above.
Click on the image to view an enlargement.
- Obtain a slide of the letter e and view it under the scanning objective. Move the slide to the left.
5) What way did the image move when the slide was moved to the left?
6) How does the orientation of the image compare to the image on the slide?
Paramecium
- Obtain a prepared slide of paramecium and view it under high power.
7) Draw the cell. Label the cilia and the oral groove.
Below: Paramecium.
Determining the Size of a Specimen
It is useful to know the size of the field of view so that you can estimate the size of objects. If the filed of view is 2 mm and an object is about one half that big, then the object length is ½ X 2 mm = 1 mm.
We can measure the diameter of the field of view under low power using a ruler. You cannot use a ruler under high power because it is too big.
Example #1
Suppose you measure the low-power field of view with a ruler and it is 2 mm.
If high power is 10X more magnification than the low power, the field of view will be 1/10 as big. The field of view under high power will be 2 mm X 1/10 = 0.2 mm.
Example #2
Suppose that the low power diameter (LPD) is 2.5 mm (2500 um).
LPM (low power magnification) = 100X (10X objective and 10X eyepiece)
HPM = 400X (40X objective)
What is the HPD? In other words, if 100X is 2500um wide, how wide is 400X?
Answer: It is 1/4 as wide. = 2500 X 100/400
Your Microscope
- Place a small transparent ruler on the stage of your microscope and measure the diameter of the field of view using the scanning (4X) objective.
1) Record the diameter in millimeters.
2) Convert this number to micrometers.
3) Record the total magnification when using the scanning objective.
4) Record the total magnification when using the high power objective.
5) Calculate the diameter in micrometers of the field of view under high power by using the formula below.
Making Wet Mounts
Wet mounts are useful for viewing living biological material.
To make a wet mount, place the specimen on a slide and then add a drop of water or stain. Stain is often used to make the specimen more visible.
Click the photographs to view enlargements.
Place a cover slip at an angle so that it touches the drop. Slowly lower the raised end of the cover slip. The diagram below shows that as the cover slip is lowered, the drop of liquid moves to the right.
Cheek Cells
- Scrape the inside of your cheek with a toothpick and rub it on a dry slide.
- Add one drop of methylene blue to stain the cells. This will make them easier to see.
- Place a cover slip on the slide as described above and observe the cells under low power then high power.
1) Draw a cell under high power.
Below: Cheek cells 100X and 400X.
Click on the images to view enlargements.
Size of Onion Cells
- Prepare a wet mount of fresh onion and stain it with methylene blue. Try to get the thinnest piece that you can; it should be thinner than paper. It might help if you take a thicker piece and bend it until it snaps into two pieces. After it snaps, there is usually a very thin connection remaining between the two pieces. This thin connecting layer can be peeled off and placed on a microscope slide for viewing. After you view this slide and answer the questions below, set the slide aside for use later in the laboratory period.
2) Draw several onion cells as they appear under high power.
3) Estimate the length of a typical onion cell in micrometers (um). This can be done by using the diameter of the field under high power calculated earlier. The following is an example; your numbers will probably be different. Suppose that a typical cell is approximately 1/3 the diameter of the field of view and the field of view is 450 um, then the cell is 450 um/3 = 150 um. Show the numbers that you plugged into the formula.
Below: Onion cells.
Click on the image to view an enlargement.
