Lab 1: Measurement and Microscopy

Kevina Smith Lab 1: Microscopy and the Metric System Part A: Microscopy Purpose The purpose of this experiment was to learn how to use a microscope correctly and perform wet mount slides accurately, thus becoming more familiar with the microscope. Hypothesis It would be hard to use the microscope without any kind of previous training and the parts of the microscope and their functions must be learned in order to use it properly. Materials & Methods Materials: 1. Filter paper 2. Tweezers 3. Pipettes 4. Cover glasses 5. Glass slides 6. The sample material (from the pond) Methods: 1.

Mix sample so that the sample is properly suspended in water. 2. Use a pipette to pick up some of the sample. 3. Apply a small (dime-sized) amount onto a glass slide. 4. Take a single piece of cover glass, using care not to get fingerprints on it, place it gently onto the sample with tweezers or your hands, and at about a 45-degree angle, place the cover glass onto the glass slide. * What to do if there is too much water? 1. Place the edge/end of the filter paper against the glass slide. 2. Cover slide to remove some of the excess water to make the slide more stable to use and view under the microscope. What to do if there is not enough water? 1. Either by pipette or tweezers to allow the capillary action and surface tension to pull the water in towards the sample. * What to do if the sample is not suspended in water (it’s a dry particle/substance)? 1. Use the tweezers (or another pipette) and add some drops of water to a glass slide. 2. Then, add the particle to the glass slide… be sure to add water to the particle as it will prevent air bubbles from forming. If the substance is hydrophobic (and contains textile fibers), immersion oil is an acceptable substance and if it’s hydrophilic, water is the better. To look at water samples to observe the organisms in the water, but the organism are so large they become squeezed in between the cover glass and the glass slide… which causes them to be inhibited in movement. 1. Take a few drops of water and place it an inch or so from each end of the glass slide. 2. Place the cover slide on top of each of the water droplets, these cover slides serve as distance holders. 3. Place a third cover slide where the ends of the slides sit on top of the other two slides and then add the water sample under the slide, remove excess with filter paper to ensure a stable slide. Results

Different Magnifications of Compound Microscope: Objective| Ocular Lens| Objective Lens| Total Magnification| Scanning Power| 10x| 4x| 40x| Low Power| 10x| 10x| 100x| High Power| 10x| 40x| 400x| Oil Immersion| 10x| 100x| 1000x| Conclusion After the completion of the lab experiment, the hypothesis proved to be correct and that it would be hard to use the microscope without any kind of previous training and the parts of the microscope and their functions must be learned in order to use it properly… so one must make sure that they follow the instructional video, the lab manual, and any other tools to the letter.

In order to properly use a microscope, one must know the parts of a microscope: ocular lenses or eyepieces (to be able view an object), viewing head (holds the ocular lenses), arm (supports upper parts and provides carrying handle), nosepiece (revolving device that holds objectives), objectives (scanning (to scan the whole slide), low-power (used to view objects in greater detail), high-power(to view an object in greater detail), nd oil immersion(to view objects with the greatest magnification in conjunction with immersion oil)), stage (holds and supports microscope slides), stage clips (holds a slide in place on the stage), mechanical stage control knobs (two knobs that control forward/reverse movement and right/left movement), coarse-adjustment knob (used to bring object into approximate focus, used only with low-power objective), fine-adjustment knob (used to bring object into final focus), condenser (gathers light from the lamp and directs it toward the object being viewed), diaphragm (controls the amount of light passing through the condenser), light source (an attached lamp that directs a beam of light up through the object), and base (the flat surface of the microscope that rests on the table). A microscope’s field of view is the circle visible through the lenses.

When viewing an object on a slide under high power, the depth of field is the area (from top to bottom) that comes into focus while slowly focusing up and down with the microscope’s fine-adjustment knob. The compound microscope is a unique tool and when used properly it can be a fun experience. Kevina Smith Lab 1: Microscopy and the Metric System Part B: The Metric System Purpose The purpose of this experiment is to become familiar with using other the English system, which would be the Metric System by measuring different items. Hypothesis If you use other measurements, then you will become more familiar with it. Materials & Methods Materials: 1. Tape measure with centimeter markings 2.

Scale that measures in grams 3. Thermometer with Celsius markings Methods: 1. Measure the width of your textbook in cm and then convert to mm and record results for the lab report. 2. Convert 100 grams to mg and then ? g and record results for the lab report. 3. Using a pocket scale, record the mass of an object in grams and include the name of the object you have measured. Once you have recorded your measurement in grams, please convert that measurement to mg and then ? g and record results for the lab report. 4. Define meniscus and describe how you would read the volume of a liquid in a graduated cylinder and record results for the lab report. 5.

Record the temperature of your skin and of the room in °Celsius and record results for the lab report. Results The Metric System measurements: 1. Linear measurements: The width of the textbook is 27 cm or 270 mm. 2. Conversions: 100 g to 100,000 mg or 100,000,000 ? g. 3. Weight measurements: water nozzle: 41. 08g or 41, 080 ? g. 4. Volume measurements: The meniscus is the lowest margin of the water level; your eye has to be directly parallel to the level of the meniscus. 5. Temperature measurements: Skin: 30°C, Room: 23°C. Conclusion The hypothesis is accurate, because I have used the metric system in many science and math classes and the more you use it, the more familiar you become with it.