Transcript for:
Understanding Microscopes and Their Components

In this video, we are going to study the microscope, specifically its parts and their functions. At the end of this video, you are expected to label the different parts of a microscope and their functions. Are you ready to learn? Let's go!

Aghamazing! How are you? This is Sir Bas of Sir Bas TV.

I am with you in this class of science about science. We will learn about different concepts of science. may kinalaman sa Natter, Living Thing Center Environment, Force, Motion and Energy at Earth and Space.

Handa ka na ba maging Agamazing? Kung oo, kunin na ang yung ball pinagpapil at sama-sama tayong maging The branch of science that deals with the study of life is known as biology. One of the tools that is used by scientists to study life is a microscope.

With the invention of the microscope, we are able to understand life even better. But what is a microscope? A microscope is a tool that is used to see organisms or objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye.

The microscope makes these small objects look bigger. Some of the tiny objects or organisms that can be seen using a microscope are the following. Plant cells, animal cells, and microorganisms such as bacteria. The different strains of virus such as coronavirus can also be seen using a microscope.

Scientists are using the microscope in understanding the structure of the coronavirus to develop a vaccine for coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19. The science of investigating very tiny organisms and small objects using the microscope is called microscopy. To understand how microscope works, we need to be familiar with two terms, magnification and resolution. When we say magnification, it describes how much larger an object appears when viewed.

Observe the structure of an onion cell pointed in a red arrow. As you can see, it is so small. If we want to see it better, we can increase its magnification. And as you can see, the structure now looks bigger. And that is magnification or the magnifying power of a microscope.

On the other hand, resolution or the resolving power is the capacity of a microscope to distinguish small gaps between two separate points which human cannot distinguish. It is used to see the finer details of an object. Compare the two pictures. Which picture shows a finer detail of a plant cell? Correct!

It's picture B. This means that picture A has a low resolution, and picture B has a high resolution because more details of the plant cells are visible. There are different types of microscopes, but in this video, we are going to focus on a compound microscope.

A compound microscope is an optical microscope that uses visible light to form an image. It uses glass lenses to magnify and resolve images. But why is it called a compound microscope? This type of microscope is called a compound microscope because it uses two or more double convex lenses to magnify the object.

These two lenses can be found on the eyepiece. and the objectives of the microscope. A compound microscope comprises of three major parts based on their functions, magnifying, illuminating, and the mechanical parts.

Let us first talk about the magnifying parts of a compound microscope. The magnifying parts of the microscope make the specimen looks bigger. The specimen is the object or part of an object or an organism that we study or examine under the microscope.

The picture on the screen shows a specimen from the skin of an onion. The first magnifying part is the eyepiece. The eyepiece is also known as ocular lens.

These are the lens located on the eye. at the top of the microscope. This is where the viewer looks and see the magnified image of the specimen. Aside from this, the eyepiece lens also magnifies the image of the object.

Its standard magnification is 10 times. The second magnifying parts are the objective lenses. Just like the ocular lens, their main job is to magnify the specimen under observation.

These are the major lenses used for specimen visualization. Most schools have light microscope with 3 objectives. Others have 4. The typical objective lenses are the following.

Low power objective. It has a magnification power of 10 times. It is used to see the general outline of the specimen.

Next is high power objective. It has a magnification power of 40 times. It is used to view structures from a larger perspective. And the last one is oil immersion objective. It has a magnification power of 100 times.

It is usually the longest objective and used to view bacteria, very small proties, and fungi. It requires the use of a special oil. Let us now proceed with the illuminating parts of a microscope.

The word illuminate means to give light. Therefore, these are the parts of the microscope that supply and regulate light towards the specimen. First, we have the mirror.

The function of the mirror is to reflect light from an external light source up through the bottom of the stage which illuminates the specimen. The light source can be in the form of natural light, just like the light from the sun, and artificial light from a lamp. In other microscopes, an illuminator is used in place of a mirror.

It captures light from an external source of a low voltage of about 100 volts. In short, this uses electricity. Second is the iris diaphragm. It is located under the stage.

This part controls the amount of light that reaches the specimen. This is important because it provides enough light in viewing the specimen. Also located under the stage is the condenser.

This part collects and focuses the light from the mirror to the specimen. Let us now explore the mechanical parts of the microscope. These parts are used for support and in adjusting the different parts of the microscope.

Body tube or draw tube. This tube holds the eyepiece. It also connects the eyepiece lens to the objective lenses.

Next is the revolving nose piece. These part holds the different objective lenses. It facilitates the changing of objectives, and this is the part that you turn to change the objective lens that you want to use. The next parts are the adjusting knobs.

These adjusting knobs are used to focus the microscope. There are two types of adjusting knobs in a microscope. The bigger adjusting knob is called the coarse adjustment knob.

It moves the body tube and low-power lenses closer to the or farther away from the stage to view the image of the specimen. The coarse adjustment should only be used with low-power objectives. It is because the gearing mechanism of the coarse adjustment knob produces a large vertical movement of the stage with only a partial revolution of the knob. On the other hand, the smaller adjusting knob is called the fine adjustment knob. It is used to bring the specimen into sharp focus to show clearly the detailed parts of the specimen.

It is used under low power and is used for focusing when using high power lenses. Unlike the coarse adjustment knob, the fine adjustment knob moves slower or shorter in terms of distance. The next part is the stage.

It is a flat surface where we put or mount the slide. A slide is where we place the specimen for observation. A stage consists of stage clips.

These clips hold the specimen slide in place. The next parts are the arm and base. The base serves as the support of the whole microscope, and the arm serves as the handle of the microscope in carrying it with the base and in transporting it from one place to another.

The arm and base are connected by the inclination joint. It allows one to tilt the microscope for more comfortable viewing especially when you are in a sitting position. However, you must only tilt the microscope when you are working with dry specimen. Tilting the microscope with liquid specimens can cause water or liquids in wet mounds to spill and flow into the metal parts.

These can cause rusting which can damage the function of the microscope. And those are the different parts of a microscope and their specific functions. To sum it up, microscope is a tool that is used to see objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye.

The microscope makes these tiny objects look bigger. The parts of a microscope can be divided into three parts, magnifying, illuminating, and mechanical parts. To test your understanding of the different parts of the microscope, try to label the parts of this microscope.

Write your answers on a sheet of paper. Compare your answers to the answer key that is found at the end of this video. Do not forget to comment your score with the hashtag, Hug Amazing!

See you on our next science lesson!