What are the Types of Objective Lenses on a Microscope?
When talking about types of objective lenses we are referring to the different magnifications and purposes of the four most common types of microscope objective lenses on compound light microscopes. Those four are: The scanning lens (4x) The low power lens (10x) The high power lens (40x) The oil immersion lens (100x). Most compound light microscopes are sold with a 40x magnification high power lens, although this is not always the case. You may get a 32x or 60x magnification high power lens, for example. A 40x lens will achieve magnification of 400x when combined with a 10x eyepiece or 800x magnification with a 20x eyepiece. It is also very commonly used with 25x eyepieces to reach 100x magnification. Oil Immersion Lens (100x) are called 'oil immersion lenses' because you usually need to use them with oil in order to view your specimen. At higher magnifications achieved with a 100x lens, there will often be too much distortion in the final image. To address distortion at ...