Answer-A compound microscope can either have a light bulb or a mirror for illumination. If your microscope has a mirror, then you need sunlight or some other light source to point at the mirror to view your slide.The mirror is used to focus light up through the hole in the microscope’s stage, or slide platform. The slides will contain a thin slice of material through which the light can shine, to reveal the internal structure of the sample.Mirrors on the exterior of microscopes are there to reflect ambient light (especially sunlight) under the slide being viewed to illuminate it. These are necessary for microscopes that don’t have their own light sources.Mirrors in the interior of the microscope are there to redirect the optics and make the microscope more compact or to facilitate making the microscope binocular.
The mirror on inexpensive compound microscopes is used to direct light through the slide from beneath into the objective lens of the microscope. Microscopes used in research have built-in light sources so mirrors are not needed. Mirror serves as the reflector of light for the viewer be able to see the specimen more clearly. It is also indicated as illuminator, microscope always needs light in order to view the slide and specimen.Most microscopes have four objective lenses, and each provides a varying level of magnification. The shortest objective possesses the least power (4X), and is called the scanning objective. It is followed by the low power objective (10X) and the high power objective or “high-dry” objective (40X). The longest objective, which is also the strongest, is the oil immersion objective (100X). The maximum magnification potential of an objective lense is typically determined by its distance from the image plane and the specimen that’s being observed.
