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Microscopes
by James Ranswert
http://www.admicroscope.com
A microscope is an instrument for viewing objects too small
to see with the naked eye. The science of investigating
small objects using a microscope is called microscopy. The
term microscopic means minute or very small, in other
words, necessitating a microscope to examine. The optical
microscope, the first to be invented, is the most common
type of microscope. An optical microscope contains one or
more lenses that generate an enlarged image of an object
placed in the focal plane of the lens or lenses.
If you take a microscope apart, you will see they have
eleven main parts in all. The eyepiece of the scope is
called the ocular or eyepiece which is attached to the tube
of the scope. The hanging cylinders are called the
objective lenses, then the nosepiece, then the stage where
the slide with the specimen is laid on. The diaphragm under
the stage is what controls the intensity of the light where
the specimen is on. There are two knobs next and one
controls adjustments and the other adjusts for coarse
adjustments.
Microscopes are used in classroom learning and in making
important evaluations in medical laboratories and other
microtechnologies. Different types of microscopes serve
different uses and vary based on magnification, resolution,
illumination method, depth of field, field of view, degree
of automation, and type of image they produce. Essentially,
there are three categories of microscopes: electron,
confocal, and compound.
Electron microscopes are the top of the line in
microscopes. These are used for important work in medicine,
geology and archaeology. They examine the surfaces and
layers of objects like the organs from a body and can tell
the age of rocks. Electron microscopes don't use a regular
light, instead they point a stream of electrons at the
specimen that is suspended within a vacuum chamber.
Computers attached to these microscopes analyze how the
material scatters the electrons.
The compound microscope is the easiest microscope to use
and so these are used in most classrooms today. These use
regular light to illuminate the specimen on the slide and
use a dial to focus and have a simple series of magnifying
lenses and mirrors. The confocal microscope uses a laser
beam to light up the slide and enhances it digitally and
puts the specimen up on a computer.
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