EXERCISE 1

THE COMPOUND MICROSCOPE

OBJECTIVES:
After successful completion of this task, the student should be able to:

• Identify the parts of a compound microscope and relate them to their function •
Compute the total magnification provided by the compound microscope •
Demonstrate how to use a compound microscope to see small structures to be
seen by the naked eye.

DISCUSSION
The term microscope is combination of two words: micro meaning “small”, and scope,
meaning “view”. This instrument is designed to produce magnified visual or photographic
images of objects too small to be seen by the naked eye. The microscope is a very useful
instrument since it can produce a magnified and detailed image of a very small specimen,
making its parts visible to the camera and the human eye.
Anton Van Leeuwenhoek – simple microscope, only had one lens and could only
magnify an object more or less 200x its original size.
Janssen brothers (1955) invented the compound microscope. They introduced second
lens system – a remarkable breakthrough in the field of science.
SPECIMENS:
Small letter “e” Squash Leaf
MATERIALS:
Compound Microscope Slides Water PROCEDURE:

1. Borrow a compound microscope from the central laboratory. Carry it carefully with both
hands, one hand on the arm and the other under the base.
2. Place the microscope on the laboratory table just in front of you.
3. Clean the lenses with lens paper for a clear view of your specimen. Clean the ocular and
objective lenses. Sometimes, you need to moisten the lens paper with alcohol or xylene to
remove grease or oil, which can blur the image of the specimen.
4. Look at the ocular/eyepiece and notice a number with an “x” after it. This refers to the
magnification of the eyepiece. If it has 5x, it means a magnification of five times the
original size.
5. Look for the objectives. There may be three or four of them. You will notice that each
objective has a number follower by “x”. Each objective magnifies the object by factor
marked on the particular lens.
Sometimes you will find a very low-power scanning objective (5x magnification), which
is usually the shortest of all objectives. Objective Lens are usually used in the following
 order: Scanning, Low, High, and Oil Immersion
If you multiply the magnification of the ocular by the magnification of the objective
being used, you will arrive at the total magnification of the microscope.
6. Prepare a slide with small letter “e” taken from a magazine or newspaper and observe
under the compound microscope.
7. Mount a trichome cell from a squash leaf and observe under LPO and HPO.

RESULT:
1. Properly label the parts of the compound microscope.

2. Draw the letter “e”

as seen under LPO
and HPO.
8

9
2 10
3
11

4 12
5

6
 LPO (Low Power Objective) HPO (High Power Objective)
3. Draw the trichomes as seen under LPO and HPO.

LPO (Low Power Objective) HPO (High Power Objective)

QUESTIONS
1. PARTS
a. What parts reflects the microscope light?

b. What particular type of microscope can achieve magnifications of up to

100,000 times?

c. What will you use to clean the lenses of the microscope? Why would you use
this?

d. What regulates the amount of light in the microscope? Why do you need to
regulate it?
2. MANIPULATION
a. Letter e
i. What happened to the position of the letter “e”?

ii. With which objective did you see the whole amount of the letter? HPO
or LPO?
b. Plant Trichome

i. Can you see the whole trichome under LPO? HPO?

ii. Are the trichome cells’ nuclei visible?

3. MAGNIFICATION
Complete the table below by supplying the missing magnifications of the
objective lenses and total magnification.
OCULAR OBJECTIVE TOTAL MAGNIFICATION

10x ___x 100x

10x ___x 400x

10x 100x ___x

10x 5x ___x

4. USAGE

a. Why must you use the fine focus control for HPO?

b. Why do you have to make sure that the area you wish to study is in the center
of the field of view before changing objectives?
c. Why must you turn the nosepiece to the LPO before putting the microscopes
away?