tips for using the compound microscope

Are you still struggling with using a microscope?

If you want to successfully use the microscope, it is important for you to understand exactly what you have control over. Basically there are 5 things you have control over:

1. You can control the lighting intensity using the dial (probably near the on/off switch) and the amount of light with the iris (using a lever under the stage)
2. You can focus the light on the sample using the condenser lens
3. You can focus the light coming up through the objective lens to your eye using the coarse and fine controls
4. You can change how much zoom you are using by swapping between the objective lenses (i.e. you could be using a x4, x10 or x40 zoom - this will depend on what objective lenses are fitted to the microscope - they are all clearly labelled so you know which is which)
5. You can change the sample position by moving the stage

The places on the microscope where you can control these five things are labelled in the following diagram (just remember that microscopes do vary, but the location of these things tend to be pretty similar between microscopes):

Parts of a microscope - numbers 1 - 5 relate to the above description
of what you can control when you use a microscope

Don't worry if you don't pick it up straight away, with microscopes you really have to learn through experience...