Microscopes

The mechanical stage knobs on a microscope are used to move the slide left/right (x-axis) and up/down (y-axis) in a controlled manner. This helps in positioning the slide to view different areas under the objective lens without having to touch the slide directly, which could disturb the sample.

You can adjust the amount of light that passes through the specimen on a compound microscope by adjusting the condenser. Lowering the condenser increases the amount of light, while raising it decreases the intensity of the light. Additionally, you can also adjust the light intensity using the light source controls on the microscope.

The part of the microscope that moves the stage up and down is called the coarse focus knob or adjustment knob. This allows you to bring the specimen into focus by adjusting the distance between the objective lens and the stage.

You would adjust the diaphragm of a microscope to control the amount of light entering the lens system. This is particularly useful when trying to enhance contrast or reduce glare in the specimen being viewed.

The fine adjustment knob should be used with high power magnification because it allows for smaller, more precise movements of the objective lens. This helps to prevent damage to the slide and objective lens, as well as minimize the risk of crashing the objective lens into the slide.

The coarse focus knob is responsible for moving the body tube and objective up and down to help focus on the specimen. This knob allows for larger, quicker adjustments to the focus compared to the fine focus knob.

Electron microscopes have higher magnification and resolution compared to light microscopes. Electron microscopes use electrons to create an image, allowing for much greater magnification and resolution due to the shorter wavelength of electrons compared to visible light used in light microscopes.

Light source located beneath the specimen illuminates it in a microscope. This light passes through the specimen, highlighting its details and making it visible to the viewer through the eyepiece. Adjusting the intensity and angle of the light source can help enhance the image quality and clarity of the specimen.

A scanning electron microscope uses a focused beam of electrons to create high-resolution images of the surface of a specimen in 3D while a compound microscope uses visible light and lenses to magnify and study the internal structures of small specimens. The SEM has higher magnification and resolution capabilities, making it ideal for studying surface details down to the nano-scale.

Electron microscopes use a beam of electrons to create an image with higher magnification and resolution compared to light microscopes, which use visible light. Electron microscopes can visualize much smaller objects due to the shorter wavelength of electrons compared to light.

Adjusting the illuminating parts of a microscope is necessary to ensure proper contrast and brightness for viewing the specimen. It helps improve image quality by reducing glare and enhancing details. Adjusting the illumination can also help reveal specific structures and improve visibility.

The diaphragm, located beneath the stage of the microscope, adjusts the amount of light that passes through the specimen. By opening or closing the diaphragm, you can control the intensity of the light and improve visibility when observing specimens.

An acoustic microscope uses sound waves to produce high-resolution images of a material's internal structure by measuring variations in acoustic properties. The sound waves are focused on the material and the resulting echoes are analyzed to generate an image. This allows for non-destructive imaging of features that may not be visible with optical microscopes.

On high power, use the fine focus knob to make small adjustments to sharpen the image. The fine focus knob allows for precise focusing at higher magnifications without causing the stage to move too quickly. Avoid using the coarse focus knob at high power as it may result in overshooting the image and potentially damaging the lens or slide.

A course adjustment knob on a microscope moves the stage or objective lens in large increments, allowing you to quickly bring the sample into rough focus. It is used to initially focus on the specimen before using the fine adjustment knob for finer focusing.

to generate light, so the specimen can be examined (sends light through base, diaphragm, stage specimen, slide, objective lens, nose-piece, body, body tube, and eyepiece)

As magnification increases in a microscope, the field of view decreases. This is because at higher magnifications, the microscope is focusing on a smaller area of the specimen, resulting in a narrower field of view.

To change the magnification of a microscope, rotate the objective lens turret to switch to a different objective lens with a desired magnification level. You can also adjust the focus using the fine focus knob to ensure a clear image at the new magnification.

Using the coarse-adjustment knob with the high-power objective can result in the objective lens getting too close to the slide, potentially damaging the lens or slide. This can also lead to the objective lens hitting the slide, causing a loss of focus and potential damage to both the lens and the slide.

To calibrate the objective lens on a light microscope, use a stage micrometer slide with a known scale (e.g. 0.01 mm). Focus on the markings of the stage micrometer slide and measure the distance they cover in the field of view. Use this measurement to calculate the calibration factor for that specific objective lens.

The coarse focus knob raises and lowers the stage of a microscope quickly, while the fine focus knob is used for precise focusing.

Changing the diaphragm openings affects the depth of field in your photographs. A larger diaphragm opening (lower f-stop number) results in a shallower depth of field, which creates a more pronounced background blur. On the other hand, a smaller diaphragm opening (higher f-stop number) increases the depth of field, keeping more of the scene in focus.

Light microscopes use ordinary light (either reflected naturally or from an artificial source such as built-in illumination) in conjunction with very powerful optical lenses to view tiny objects that are not visible to the naked eye. But some extremely small objects, such as viruses, are too small to be seen even using light microscopes. Electron microscopes solve the problem by firing a beam of electrons on to the object to create an imprinted image, which is then magnified and viewed on a screen- we can't magnify the image of the object itself, but we can magnify the imprint of it made by a continuous bombardment of it by electron beams and get this copied from the screen. Electron microscopes were first developed by the Germans during WW2, possibly with the aim of developing biological weapons- the Allies captured the technology after the fall of Hitler and developed it for the benefit of all humankind.

The image will move upwards in the field of view when the slide is moved towards you. This is because the slide is physically closer to the objective lens, resulting in the object on the slide appearing to move in the opposite direction.

Chemicals used to make specimens visible under a microscope are called stains or dyes. Stains help enhance the contrast and highlight specific structures within the specimen, making them easier to visualize and analyze under the microscope.