Question:

With the help of a ray diagram, describe the construction and working of a compound microscope.

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Solution and Explanation

Compound Microscope Construction A compound microscope consists of two convex lenses mounted coaxially in a tube.
• The lens near the object is called the objective.
• The lens near the eye is called the eyepiece.
• The objective has very small focal length and small aperture.
• The eyepiece has comparatively larger focal length. Ray Diagram

Working

Step 1:
Formation of intermediate image The object is placed just beyond the focal length of the objective. The objective forms a real, inverted and magnified image inside the tube. This image acts as the object for the eyepiece.

Step 2:
Action of the eyepiece The intermediate image is placed within the focal length of the eyepiece. The eyepiece acts as a simple microscope. It forms a highly magnified virtual image.

Step 3:
Final image The final image produced is
• virtual,
• highly magnified,
• inverted with respect to the original object. Thus a compound microscope provides very large magnification by combining the magnifying effects of two convex lenses.
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