INSIDE CELLS: THE MICROSCOPE 

OBJECTIVES 
When you have completed this topic, you should be able to: 
1. Carry a microscope correctly and place it correctly on your lab desk. 
2. Explain the function of each part of the microscope as shown in Figures 2-1 and 2-2. 
3. State the advantages and disadvantages of a compound microscope and dissecting microscope. 
4. Clean the microscope lenses correctly using lens paper. 
5. Prepare the microscope for examining a ready-made (prepared or permanent) slide. 
6. Locate the object of interest and focus on it under low and then high power. 7. View a slide under oil immersion, and remove the oil from the slide and lens 
afterward. 
8. Measure a tiny object by viewing it in the microscope field at a known magnification. 
9. Prepare a wet mount. 
10. Store the microscopes properly. 
TEXT REFERENCES 
Chapter 7  Cells   Campbell, 5th edition 
KEY TOPICS 
light microscope, resolving power, magnification,  metric units 
INTRODUCTION 

The purpose of a microscope is to see inside of organisms and cells-to see what is invisible to the naked eye. The eye can be aided with a simple microscope, which is nothing more than a magnifying glass with one lens, or with a compound microscope, which has two lenses at opposite ends of a tube. The ocular lens is the one nearest the eye, and the objective lens is nearest the object or specimen. Both of the microscopes that you will be using today are compound and quite a bit more sophisticated than the exquisite simple microscopes with which  Anton van Leeuwenhoek discovered the microbes. Microbes are organisms too small to be seen in any detail with the naked eye. They may be a single cell or they may contain many cells. Plants, animals, fungi, protests, and bacteria all include organisms that are microscopic in size.
How small are microbes? Actually, many can be detected with the naked eye if you know