Microscope parts and functions

ocular lenses

lenses at the top of the microscope that you look into; the ones your using in lab have 10x magnification

arm

piece of the microscope that goes from the base, past the stage, to the ocular lenses

revolving nosepiece

textured rubber circular piece that allows you to change which objective lens you are looking at

stage clip

where you place and secure the microscope slide

stage

Large section that the slide is placed on top of

iris diaphragm

underneath the stage, adjusts the brightness and contrast of the specimen

condenser

takes a beam of light from the source and concentrates it onto the specimen

lamp

emits the light used to see the specimen

base

bottom of the microscope

light intensity knob

adjusts the brightness of the lamp

coarse focus knob

moves the stage up or down large amounts

fine focus knob

moves the stage up or down small amounts

mechanical stage adjustment knobs

moves the slide left/right and up/down

objective lenses

changeable lenses that produce a significantly magnified image