The optic microscope uses visible light together with a set of lenses that help to magnify small specimens that are placed on them. Today this particular microscope is in fact the oldest, as well as being the easiest to use, of all microscopes that are available.
Today you will find that there are two types of optic microscopes available for people to use. The more basic version of this type of microscope has only one lens while a more advance version known as a compound optic microscope comes with several lenses.
The simple optic microscope uses only one lens which provides the necessary magnification to view a specimen and would be considered to be the forerunner of all microscopes that are used today. Currently, very few microscopes are actually made using a single convex lens, instead you are more likely to find these in either magnifying glasses, hand lenses or a loupe.
Where as the basic optic microscope uses only one lens the compound optic microscope differs greatly as it uses several lenses in order to produce the required magnification so that a specimen can be viewed in more detail. However, most of these simpler types of microscopes will have one glass lens at the end where the specimen is placed and a further glass lens in the eye piece or ocular. But the more modern versions, which are even more complex, will have multiple lens components at both ends of the tube through which viewing of the specimen is made. Plus, instead of them having a mirror in order to reflect the light on the specimen, today most modern optic microscopes will have a lamp unit instead as these are much more stable and an easy to control form of illumination.
As with all microscopes the optic microscope shares some very basic components that you find on the others.
1. Eye piece or Ocular. The ocular (eye piece) is to be found at the top of the body of the tube where the user actually places their own eyes in order to view the specimen that they are investigating or viewing. In most cases you will find that with a modern optic microscope this particular part of it will contain 2 or more lenses in order to provide the viewer with the best possible image of the specimen.
2. Objective Lens. You will also find this in the same cylinder/tube as the ocular but is to be found at the opposite end close to where the specimen will be. Again this is made of two or more lenses which are able to collect the light for the samples to be viewed at their optimum level. But for people using high performance objective lenses on their microscopes, they usually need to also have matching ocular lenses in order to ensure that they are provided with the most optimum optical performance they can get.
3. The Stage. This is to be found below the objective lens and this is where the specimen which has been put on to a microscope slide is placed. At the center of this component on an optic microscope, there is a hole through which light is able to shine in order to provide illumination to the specimen. In most cases you will find that this part of a microscope comes with arms which help to hold the slide containing the specimen being viewed.
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