Eyepiece
10 x
10 x
10 x
Objective
Lens
4 x
Magnification
40 x
10 x
40 x
100 x
400 x
Place the slide on the microscope stage, with the specimen directly over the center of the glass circle on the stage (directly over the light). Then you have a 9 out of 10 chance of finding the specimen as soon as you look through the eyepiece!
NOTE: If you wear glasses, take them off; if you see only your eyelashes, move closer. Be sure to
close, or cover your other eye!!
NOTE: If you see a dark line that goes part way accross the field of view , try turning the eyepiece . That dark line is a pointer that will be very valuable when you want to point out something to your lab partner , or your teacher !
When making microscope drawings, it is important to keep in mind that these drawings are representations of what you observe under the microscope. Drawings need to be detailed and in color so it is evident what you were looking at under the microscope.
Rules for Drawing
1. The border for the drawing should be similar to the microscope field of view. A petri dish makes a great template for your drawings.
2. Draw EXACTLY what you see through the eyepiece to scale, meaning that the specimen you are drawing should fit in the circle on your paper like the circle in the field of view. If the specimen takes up the whole viewing field, make sure your drawing shows this. It is not necessary to include the pointer in your drawing. Do not forget the color!
3. Below each drawing give the name of the specimen and the magnification through which the object was viewed.’
4. Don’t even think of starting your drawing unless you have a PENCIL! Drawings in PEN are
UNACCEPTABLE! This is for two reasons:
(a) You can erase pencil!
(b) You can shade in areas more easily in pencil.

This is a picture of a letter e shown at 40X. This slide was set up with the letter in the correct orientation. Notice that it appears upside down when viewed under the microscope.
This is a picture of the letter "e" shown at 100X. Notice, that as you increase the power of the lens, your field of view gets smaller.

When using a microscope it is important to remember that you should always carry the microscope with one hand on the arm and one hand under the base . The microscope should always be stored with the low power objective in place. Always view the specimen beginning with low power.
The eyepiece is used to view the specimen while the objectives offer different sizes of view. The stage is where the slide is placed and the stage clips hold the slide in place. The coarse adjustment knob is used to bring the specimen into, view while the fine adjustment knob focuses the specimen more definitely. You should never use the coarse adjustment knob on high power because you might lower it too far and break the glass slide. The diaphragm controls the amount of light in the field of view. If your field of view appears to be black simply turn the diaphragm so that light can pass through.