Using a light microscope (LC 2026) (Leaving Cert Biology): Revision Notes

Using a light microscope

Materials needed:

• Microscope
• Prepared microscope slides

Procedure:

1. I switched on the light source.
2. I rotated the nosepiece so that the low power lens was used.
3. I put a prepared microscope slide on the stage of the microscope.
4. I used the stage clips to hold the slide in place.
5. I used the coarse adjustment wheel, to ensure that the low power lens is at the closest setting to the slide.

6. I looked down the eyepiece and adjusted the iris diaphragm for correct illumination.
7. I used the coarse adjustment wheel to focus the object as sharply as possible and then used the fine adjustment wheel to sharpen the focus.
8. I repeated steps 6-7 using the other objective lenses.
9. I drew diagrams of my observations under low power and high power.