Basic Understanding of Microscopes

A microscope is an optical instrument that supports the eye, including many objective lenses with different magnifications, helping you to observe very small objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye.

1. STRUCTURE
A microscope consists of 4 systems:
- Support system
- Magnification system
- Lighting system
- Adjustment system

1.1 Support system includes:
Platform, body, Revonve carrying the objective lens, specimen table, specimen clamp.

1.2 Magnification system includes:
- Eyepiece: is a part of the microscope that people put their eyes on and use to look at the lens, there are 2 types of double tubes and single tubes. (Essentially a converging lens with a very short focal length, used to create a real image of the object to be observed)
- Objective lens: is a part of the microscope that is turned towards the object that one wants to observe, there are 3 main magnifications of the objective lens: x10, x40, x100. (Essentially a converging lens with a short focal length, acting as a magnifying glass to observe real images).

1.3 Lighting system includes:
- Light source (mirror or lamp).
- Screen, placed inside the condenser used to adjust the amount of light passing through the condenser.
- Condenser, used to focus light rays and direct the light stream onto the specimen to be observed. The position of the condenser is between the mirror and the specimen table. Move the condenser up and down to adjust the illumination.

1.4 Adjustment system:
- Coarse adjustment screw
- Micro adjustment screw (fine adjustment)
- Condenser adjustment screw up and down
- Condenser light concentration adjustment screw
- Shutter adjustment knob
- Slide slide moving screw (front, back, left, right)

2. HOW TO USE A MICROSCOPE
- Place the slide on the slide table, use a clamp to hold the slide, drop 1 drop of immersion oil to immerse the slide when examining the x100 objective.
- Select the objective: depending on the specimen sample and the purpose of observation, choose the appropriate objective.
- Adjust the light.
- Adjust the condenser: for the x10 objective, lower the condenser to the end, for the x40 objective, place the condenser in the middle, for the x100 objective.
- Adjust the size of the shutter corresponding to the objective.
- Lower the objective close to the specimen (eyes looking at the specimen).

- Look at the eyepiece, turn the microscopic screw to raise the objective until you see the blurry image of the field.

- Adjust the microscopic screw to get a clear image.

3. MICROSCOPE PRESERVATION
- Use and store the microscope carefully.

- Place the microscope in a dry place, at the end of the working day, put the microscope in a box with a silica gel desiccant to avoid mold.

- Wipe the support system daily with a clean cloth, wipe the oiled objective with a specialized soft paper soaked in xylene or alcohol.

- Maintain, open the microscope to clean the lighting system inside periodically.

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