Magnification is the process of enlarging the appearance of an object. We calculate the magnification of an object by indicating the fold change in size. So if something appears to be double the size of the real item, then it is obviously magnified 2X. Because there is a magnification by the eye-piece (ocular lens), as well as the objective lenses, our final magnification of an item is the product of those two lenses. The lowest magnification objective lens (usually 4X or 5X) is referred to as a scanning lens. There is also usually a low power lens at 10X and a higher magnification lens at 40X. There may be a higher magnification lens at 100X but these usually require oil to function properly and are often reserved for microbiology labs.
• What is the power of the ocular lens?
• We can calculate that as:
Magnification total = Magnification objective X Magnification ocular
• With this in mind, fill in the following table:
Objective Magnification | Ocular Magnification | Total Magnification
Scanning | |
Low Power | |
High Power | |
Oil Immersion | 100X |
