| A | B |
|---|
| Eyepiece Lens | the lens at the top that you look through. They are usually 10X or 15X power. |
| Tube | Connects the eyepiece to the objective lenses |
| Arm | Supports the tube and connects it to the base |
| Base | The bottom of the microscope, used for support |
| Illuminator | steady light source (110 volts) used in place of a mirror |
| Stage | The flat platform where you place your slides |
| Stage Clips | Located on the stage, The flat platform where you place your slides. |
| Objective Lenses | Usually you will find 3 or 4 objective lenses on a microscope. They almost always consist of 4X, 10X, 40X and 100X powers. When coupled with a 10X (most common) eyepiece lens, we get total magnifications of 40X (4X times 10X), 100X , 400X and 1000X |
| Rack Stop | This is an adjustment that determines how close the objective lens can get to the slide. |
| Condenser Lens | The purpose of the condenser lens is to focus the light onto the specimen. Condenser lenses are most useful at the highest powers (400X and above). |
| Diaphragm or Iris | Many microscopes have a rotating disk under the stage. This diaphragm has different sized holes and is used to vary the intensity and size of the cone of light that is projected upward into the slide. |
