Bio 101: microscope parts and functions

stage

holds the slide

stage adjustment knobs

moves the slide back and forth, upand down, and side to side

sub stage lamp

source of illumination

sub stage condenser

concentrates the light from the light source into a cone of light

iris diaphragm

controls the amount of light entering through the aperture stage

objectives

form a magnified image

revolving nose piece

holds the objectives, can be rotated to select and position a particular objective to the center of the stage

oculars (eye pieces)

used to view the image of the specimen and to magnify the image

coarse adjustment knob

helps focus the image by moving the stance up and down (used only when working with 4x and 10x objectives)

fine adjustment knobs

used to sharpen the focus of the image

depth of focus/depth of field

the band of vision that’s being focused on

field of view

area that you can see or are examining through a microscope