Proper MICROSCOPE USE

  1. Always support the microscope with two hands when moving it.
  2. Familiarize yourself with the important parts:
    1. Ocular (eyepiece) and objective lenses
    2. Coarse (large outer wheel) and fine (smaller inner wheel) focusing knobs
    3. Mechanical stage clips and control knobs
    4. Iris diaphragm and its control
    5. Condenser lens and its control knob
  3. Remove the ocular lens if possible. Close the iris diaphragm as much as possible. Look into the microscope tube and open the iris diaphragm slowly until the circle of light JUST FILLS the visual field. STOP HERE and open it no further. Leave the diaphragm in this position for the rest of your session.
  4. If you use eyeglasses, please put them aside; the microscope can compensate for most visual variations (except very severe astigmatism, which is rare). Contact lenses may be left in place.
  5. For each new slide you examine, begin by rotating the shortest objective lens into place. Also, turn the course focusing knob to bring the objective lens and stage as close as possible to one another.
  6. GENTLY put the slide in the jaws of the mechanical stage.
    IMPORTANT: The clip should not overlap any of the slide; it should just touch against one corner to hold the slide in place, nesled near the base of the clips.
  7. SLOWLY turn the COARSE FOCUSING KNOB ONLY to focus the slide. You may wish to wiggle the mechanical stage back and forth slightly to make sure you are focusing on something that moves when you move the slide.
  8. Only use the fine focusing knob AFTER you have done your best with the coarse focusing knob.
  9. If you are using a binocular microscope, adjust the distance between the two eyepiece (ocular) lenses to match the distance between your two eyes, so that you see a single, well-focused image. You only need to do this once.
  10. If necessary, adjust the condenser to achieve the most uniform lighting.
  11. Explore the slide under the lowest power first. Then, put something interesting in the CENTER of your visual field before changing to the next high power.
  12. Do not use the highest power (oil immersion lens) unless specifically instructed to do so.
  13. You may need to readjust the focus slightly when you change to a higher power.
  14. Repeat the above steps for each new slide that you examine.