A light microscope is an optical instrument that makes small objects visible by refracting and reflecting light with a lens. Its composition is fourfold: an illuminating device, a focusing lens, an objective lens with eyepiece. Those with the appropriate equipment can observe microscopic structures in exquisite detail through high magnification.
The core part of an optical microscope is the light-emitting device, such as a tungsten halogen lamp or arc discharge technology that can provide enough light. A condenser lens then focuses the light from these sources onto the specimen, which maintains the clarity and accuracy of the image. The first lens that light emitted from the specimen goes through is called the objective lens, which has a short focal length and pulls and focuses the light.
The optical microscope also observes the specimen using transmission, refraction or reflection of a visible light. One of the most significant metrics to evaluate the performance of a microscope is the ability to retain all the fine details of an object in its entirety, which is known as the resolution.
As light waves are chaotic natural phenomena, the wavelength of light waves emitted from an incandescent light source varies by the path that the light travels. Some lenses are built to bend these light waves into parallel paths in order to magnify and focus the light on an eyepiece, solving this problem.
Other magnification methods such as oil immersion bend the light inwards through a difference in refractive index to achieve increased magnification.
To sum up, this potent scientific tool, the optical microscope, is utilized in schools, hospitals, research centers and so many more fields. In addition to being applied in the fields of cell phone repair and jewel identification, it can also suitable for a variety of purposes such as scientific research and teaching kids science.
