Compound Light Microscopes

You may have used a microscope similar to the one in the diagram below. It is called a compound light microscope.

The kind of microscope uses

• a light source to brighten and give contrast to the object being observed
• a series of two lenses to magnify an object
  • One lens is called the eyepiece.
  • The other lens is called the objective.

Can you locate these parts of the microscope on the diagram?

Magnification

Compound light microscopes can magnify up to around 1500 times. One major advantage of using this type of microscope is that you can view living organisms or living material.

To determine the total magnification, of the two lenses

• multiply the power of the eyepiece by the power of the objective
• For example,
  • eyepiece lens is 10X (magnifies 10 times)
  • the low power lens is 10X
  • the total magnification is 10 x 10 = 100X or 100 times magnification.

Time to Explore!

Below is a labeled diagram of the microscope. As you see there are three objective lenses: low (shortest), medium, and high (longest). The slide with the specimen is on the stage ready to be looked at.
*Make drawings of the cells you observe! Add them to your notes!

Text-only version

1. Access the low power view to see the sample as you would if we were using the low power objective . What you are observing is a sample of onion cells magnified 100X. Low Power View
2. Access the medium power view to see the sample as you would if we were using the medium power objective. Notice that this the same material magnified 400 times. Medium Power View

Close This Window