SMPK1 BPK Penabur Bandung

Learning Resource
SECONDARY 1 BIOLOGY

Name:

Microscope
A. History of the microscope
In 1595, two Dutch spectacle makers,
Zacharias Jansen and his father Hans
Jansen started experimenting with these
lenses. They put several lenses in a tube and
made a very important discovery. The object
near the end of the tube appeared to be
greatly enlarged, much larger than any simple
magnifying glass could achieve by itself. Their
first microscopes were more of a novelty than a scientific tool since maximum
magnification was only around 9x and the images were somewhat blurry.
It was Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723), a Dutch draper and
scientist, and one of the pioneers of microscopy who in the late 17th century
became the first man to make and use a real microscope.
Van Leeuwenhoek achieved greater success
than his contemporaries by developing ways to
make superior lenses, grinding and polishing
five hundred and fifty lenses to make his new
lens tube that had a magnifying power of 270x
and could view objects one millionth of a meter
(other microscopes of the time were lucky to
achieve 50x magnification).
Van Leeuwenhoek made many biological
discoveries using his microscopes. He was the
first to see and describe bacteria, yeast plants,
the teeming life in a drop of water, and the
circulation of blood corpuscles in capillaries.
Van Leewenhoek's work was verified and
further developed by English scientist Robert
Hooke, who published the first work of
microscopic studies, Micrographia, in 1665. He looked at all sorts of things
(snow, a needle, a razor, etc.) with a primitive compound microscope, but his
most significant observations were done on fleas and cork. He observed the
fleas under the microscope and was able to observe the tiny hairs on the
fleas' bodies. On the cork he saw pores. Upon examination of the pores, he
decided to call them "cells"; however, he did not know he had just
discovered plant cells.
B. Type of microscopes
There
1.
2.
3.
4.

are four type of microscope:

Compound light microscope
Dissecting scope or Stereo microscope
Scanning electron microscope (SEM)
Transmission electron microscope (TEM)

C. Light microscope
Biologists use the light microscope to observe microscopic specimens. This
microscope is also called the compound microscope is given its name
because it has more than two sets of lenses. It has an eyepiece lens (or
ocular) and two or more sets of objective lenses (this microscope has three

lenses) on a nosepiece that usually revolves. This kind of microscope is also

called a light microscope as it requires a source of light to pass through the
specimen. The specimen observed with this kind of microscope is usually
microscopic and has to be translucent (allows light to pass through it). The
specimen to be observed is placed on the stage of this microscope.
D. Parts of the microscope

E. Slide under the microscope

There are two type of slides can be seen under microscope. Prepared slide is
for permanent use. Wet-mount slide or fresh slide is for temporary use.
F. Image under microscope
Images
viewed
under
the
light
microscope
are reversed (backward) and inverted (upside down).
This is a compound light microscope view of the letter F
placed on a slide in its normal position.
G. Magnification power of the microscope
To figure the total magnification of an image that you are viewing through the
microscope is really quite simple. To get the total magnification take the
power of the objective (4X, 10X, 40x, 100x) and multiply by the power of
the eyepiece, usually 10X.
Example:

This image is seen with ocular lens powered 10X and

objective lens powered 4X. What is the magnification
of the image?
Answer:
Magnification = ocular lens magnification X objective
lens magnification = 4 X 10 = 40 times

Microscope Review Questions

Name :
Number :
Class :
1. Label the parts of the microscope below.

2. Who invented the first microscope?

3. How was the first microscope invented?
4. Who is called the father of microbiology because of his contribution in
observing and describing single celled organisms while he was working on
developing better microscope?
5. What is the term introduced by Robert Hooke after his observation of cork
under the microscope?
6. How much are you magnifying something when you use the 40X objective
with the 10X eyepiece lens? Calculate the total magnification of this
specimen (show your work).

7. When
a.
b.
c.
d.

you clean up, what step do you NOT do?

Turn light off.
Leave it plugged in.
Wrap cord around the microscope arm.
Put the cover on the microscope.

8. What do you grasp when carrying the scope?

a.
b.
c.
d.
9. What
a.
b.
c.

The
The
The
The

stage and nosepiece

top and stage
base and stage
arm and base

knob(s) do you use with the smaller objectives (4X and 10X)?
Both the course and fine knobs
Only the course knob
Only the fine knob

10.Which objective must be in place when you put the microscope away?
a. 4X
b. 10X
c. 40X
d. 100X
11.What is a coverslip?
a. A small glass or plastic cover that is placed over the object you view on
the slide
b. A small glass or plastic cover that slips into the lens
c. The cover that is placed on the jars that protects the living specimens
d. The plastic cover that covers and protects the scope.
12.Which knob do you first use when you begin looking at an object?
a. Fine focus
b. Course focus
c. Stage focus
d. Auto focus
13.Why should you NEVER use the course adjustment knob when you are on the
highest objective?
a. You might be able to see too well.
b. It could break the lens
c. It could break the arm
d. You might squish the specimen
14.How much are you magnifying something when you use the 4X objective with
the 10X eyepiece lens?
a. 4 times
b. 10 times
c. 14 times
d. 40 times
15.The body tube holds the __________ lenses and the ____________ lens at the
proper distance.
16.The Nose Piece holds the objective lenses and can be turned to change the
________________.
17.The ocular or eye lens magnifies the specimen image ____ times.
18.The 2 __________ clips hold the

slide/specimen in place on the stage.

19.The Diaphragm controls the ___________ of _________ on the slide/specimen.

20.The light source projects light upwards through the diaphragm, the specimen
and the lenses. Some have _________, and others have ___________ where you
must move the mirror to reflect light.

21.The arm is used to ____________ the microscope when carried.

22.The ____________ supports the slide/specimen.
23.The ___________ adjustment knob moves the stage up and down (quickly) for
focusing your image. Never use coarse adjustment under ___________ power.
24.The ____________ supports the microscope.