What is a Compound Light Microscope

Microscopes came into existence centuries ago, and they have assisted the human vision in seeing things that are not visible to the naked eye. The first microscope was born back in the 1600s, and since then it has undergone hundreds of modifications and revolutionary changes. It is probably the most used laboratory equipment around the world. There are many different types of microscopes available for different purposes. In this article, we are going to discuss a compound light microscope, its parts, uses, etc.

Compound Light Microscope Explained

A microscope, as you may already be knowing, is an instrument that lets you see 'micro' things or organisms that are not visible to the naked eye. The compound microscope is termed so because it uses multiple number of lenses. As you might have guessed, simple microscopes use only one lens, because of which the magnification power of a simple microscope is limited. The invention of the compound microscope by the Janssens lead to the advancement of the field of microbiology way ahead of where it had been only just a few years before that.

The name of this microscope includes 'light' in it because it utilizes a light source to light up and contrast the object to be viewed. A compound microscope is capable of magnifying objects up to 2000x. Even if it could magnify more than that, our eyes wouldn't be able to see it and our brain too would be able to recognize the object. Moreover a compound microscope can be easily used in almost any field where you need to view microscopic things.

Parts

Following are the various parts of a compound light microscope. For a detailed study of these parts, read this article on compound microscope parts and functions.

Head - It has the primary optical parts of the microscope.

Arm - Arm is the connecting link between the head and the base.

Base - This is the base of the microscope and it supports the instrument and contains the illuminator.

Eyepiece - Eyepiece is something through which you look at the microscopic object. It contains a lens of magnifying power 10x.

Objectives - These are basically the main lenses of the microscope. They come in a range of 4x to 100x.

Nosepiece - The nosepiece is meant to contain the objectives. Objects are placed on rotating turrets and different objectives are used at different.

Stage - The object or substance to be viewed is placed on the stage.

Diaphragm - The diaphragm is located below the stage and it controls the quantity of light falling on the object.

Condenser - The light coming from the illuminator is focused on the object to be seen, by the condenser.

Aperture - There is an opening in the stage that lets in the light coming from the illuminator so that it falls on the object.

Illuminator - This is the source of light that is used to light up the object to be viewed.

Uses

Forensic science has the most use of the compound microscope. Many other fields like botany, geology, microbiology, etc., make use of the compound microscope. Compound light microscope uses are also found in primary, middle, high schools, as well as colleges, for teaching students the use of microscope for various purposes. Health research is another field where compound microscopes are used extensively. Many scientists, researchers and physicians, utilize compound microscopes to study and analyze human cells and tissues to diagnose illnesses and come up with new treatments and cures for existing diseases.

So I hope that now you have some significant information on compound light microscopes, their parts, uses, etc.