Instructions / Assembly

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Education Medical & Research
Science Molecular Structure
Types of Microscopes
The majority of microscopes are called light (bright field) microscopes since they rely on light to observe the magnified
image of a specimen or object. Within this category are two main categories – (1)
compound (high power microscopes),
and (2)
stereo or dissecting (low power microscopes).
Compound Microscope
This is the most common type of microscope. It can also be referred to as a biological or research microscope.
The compound microscope is what many refer to as a high power microscope. The magnification (power) can have a range
from about 40x to 1000x and some can go up to 1500x or 2000x. Much serious work of a compound microscope is done at
400x to 500x.