Introduction Microscopes have brought to light a new realm of information that originally laid dormant and invisible to the naked eye. It has enhanced biology and brought forth great advancements into the study of living organisms. Many discoveries have been achieved through the microscope. One of the major ones is the cell theory that we have talked about in this chapter. Having a microscope enables us to study even the smallest of details in organisms and allows us to conduct research. Another great tool concerning research is that we can do physical examinations as well as tests on organisms.

We can introduce medications to cells to see how they will react or procreate. Due to these types of studies, we have changed the face of pathophysiology as we know it today. Discussion A normal letter “E” that is upright to the naked eye will be inverted and flipped when viewed through a microscope. The reason for this is due to the shape and position of the two lenses in a compound light microscope. Light passes through the convex lens and is bent. The light continues on to the next lens and are bent again.

The initial pass through the lens caused the light to intersect but the secondary pass of light through the second lens causes them to be parallel. The light from the top of the image is now seen in the second lens at the bottom and it will appear inverted. The color of the threads are cream color, red and blue. They go from left to right in that order. I thought the 40X magnification was most useful in identifying the order because it allowed me to see them from a distance that was not close up. The other magnifications drew them in at a distance that made it challenging to see them as a whole.

When viewing this object I have to adjust the magnification in proportion to the distance of the threads. The lower the magnification, the farther the lens is to the thread which makes it easier to differentiate what you are looking at. The higher the magnification, the closer the lens is to the thread and the easier it is to see minute details. Interpupillary distance essentially is talking about the distance between the eyes. It is important to have this set up properly so that you are getting a clear view of the object in the slide.

To adjust this setting you simply pull together or push apart the the eye pieces to increase or decrease the space between them. Some microscopes you a slider that adjusts the interpupillary distance based on millimeters. To adjust the diopter etting you line up the graded markings on the eyepieces and turn the lens clockwise to the shortest focal length position. Focus the specimen with the 10x objective and rotate the nosepiece to the 5x setting above the specimen. At that point refocus each eye lens individually until the image is clear and sharp to view.

Rotate the 20x objective and use the fine focus knob. Repeat this procedure again using the 5x objective and the image should be focused and ready to view. It is important to use the low power objective first because you are seeing more of the image. The lower power shows the image more realistic and isn’t providing the very fine, minute details that a higher magnification will provide. Another thing you can manipulate is the diaphragm aperture. It will affect the depth of the field of the object you are viewing.

When the opening gets smaller the image will get slightly out of focus and the light will get smaller as well. As this occurs, the object will appear to have a sharper look to it but it will be slightly out of focus. My lab partner was having trouble viewing the cells of an onion tip root. One of the things that I would highly recommend she do would be first off to simply use a stain or die to make the onion tip root easier to see. Doing this will enhance visibility of the onion root and will also not change its structure or properties.

It would also allow the root to absorb the stain which would highlight different parts of the root which would make its properties more distinguishable. Another great suggestion would be to adjust the diaphragm setting on the microscope. When you close the diaphragm it would dull the amount of light that is going through the root and allow for better contrasting of the roots structure and components. As a nurse, part of my job is to assist in the lab when there is an overflow of work and we are short on patients.

I am always fascinated with looking at slides through a microscope. One of the most recent things I have been privileged to work on was a specimen of my own husband’s. After having six children we decided our quiver was full and he had a vasectomy. I assisted in the surgery and thirty days later we had a sperm count done. It came back with live semen. We waited another thirty days and had a repeat specimen viewed. On this particular specimen I got to view it with the lab technician and was shocked to find we still had live and very mobile sperm.

Finally, a third specimen was gathered and I took it to the lab and we got to view it again. This time there was nothing live or motile. In having this experience, I got to have some firsthand experience in working with a microscope and learning how to adjust the settings in order to zoom in on objects or simply to clear up an image. It was a very wonderful experience that will certainly open your mind to the fact that there is another level of life outside of our natural view that is awesome.