The Different Parts Of A Dissecting Microscope
Michalis 'BIG Mike' Kotzakolios


Defined Tag: Dissecting Microscope.

At one point, we have all encountered a dissecting microscope. These are the microscopes that we used way back when, early in our educational history, to study the frogs we dissected in school. Remember those days? You may have asked your mom to buy for you a frog in comatose. You may have even felt pity in having to dissect the frog after reapplying chloroform to make it go to a sound sleep. Thereafter, you have studied the internal composition of the frog under the powerful lens of these microscopes.

And perhaps today, you are on this page because your own son or daughter is at that stage when he is about to discover the workings of inner space. To aid you, we are going to discuss the parts of a dissecting microscope so that you and your child will have a solid grasp of how this equipment actually works.

* The body tube. This is the tubular structure that has become the trademark of microscopes. At the upper end, you have the ocular lens where you can place your eye to study a specimen. This is usually accompanied by a nosepiece to give your face better support when viewing the subject. At the other end is the objective lens, the type of which depends if you want to implement fine focus or course focus on your study.

* The condenser. The condenser is a set of two lenses, the purpose of which is the basis for the name. In between these two lenses, light is condensed, which in turn provides the magnification that is demanded from a dissecting microscope.

* The stage. The stage is where the specimen will be placed for observation. The condenser is perched exactly on top of the middle portion of the stage. The stage should ideally be mechanical so that the user will be able to control its movement even when his eyes are locked on the eyepiece.

* The diaphragm. The diaphragm can be found underneath the stage. Its function is to regulate the light that passes through the specimen.

* The light source. The light source can be made either of fluorescent or halogen light. The bulb is found beneath the stage as well.

Images and colors are just our eyes' perception of refracted light. This light that is reflected on the surface of the specimen is manipulated by the dissecting microscope to achieve the desired magnification. And this, in a nutshell, is how microscopes work.

BIG Mike is a well known author, developer and Adsense expert as well as the owner of Niche Maniacs - a unique Adsense Marketing System designed to build long-term passive income streams from Adsense, Amazon, YPN, Chitika and other PPC services.