What are the parts of the brightfield microscope?
Cytology is the study of cell structure and function. Because most cells are very small, they can only be seen when magnified with an instrument such as a microscope. Microscopes not only provide important information about cell structure, they also provide clues about how the cell works. There are 2 basic types of microscopes: the light microscope (creates an image using a beam of light), and the electron microscope (creates an image using a beam of electrons.) The most common type of light microscope, and the one you will use in this lab, is the brightfield microscope. The brightfield microscope is an example of a compound microscope. That means light from the object you are viewing passes through two lenses before it reaches your eye. Microscopes not only magnify the object you are viewing, they also provide increased resolution. Resolution is the ability to distinguish two points as separate points. For instance, if two points are very close together, they may appear to be a single
