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http://www.bio lo gyco rner.co m/2010/09/14/ho w-to -measure-with-the-micro sco pe/

How to Measure with a Microscope

Measuring with the microscope can be a f rustrating endeavor f or beginner biologists. In f act, I rarely teach
measuring in my f reshman classes. Advanced (AP) biology does look at how to measure with the
microscope. T he entire process involves f ocusing on high power, using math to solve a ratio problem, and
in the end making an estimation of the f ield of view of your microscope. T he section on measuring is
included in the advanced microscopy lab, but the lab itself doesnt go into much detail (pref erring instead
f or the students to work it out. T he steps and process Im including here as an extra aid f or students
(and teachers) who need a ref resher on measuring with the microscope.
Disclaimer: Numbers are rough estimates based on a specific microscope. Microscopes can vary in their
magnifications and viewing field diameter.

Estimating Viewing Field with a Ruler

Step 1: Use a clear ruler with a cm/mm scale to measure the diameter of your viewing f ield at scanning
(40x). On our scopes, we estimated the viewing f ield to be about 4 mm across.
Step 2: Repeat the process on low power (100x). We estimate our
low power viewing f ield to be about 2 mm across.
Convert mm to microns f or both the scanning and low power. T here
are 1000 microns in a millimeter. So
Scanning = 4000 microns;
Low Power = 2000 microns.
You can at this point use that measurement to measure anything in
your viewing f ield that you can see with low or scanning power. T he
measurement is an estimation though, and probably not very
accurate. For instance, if you have a slide with the word are
across it, use your measurement of the viewing f ield to estimate the
distance of each of the letters. In the drawing below, I have
superimposed the slide over the millimeters of the ruler so you can
make your estimation. Based on the ruler marks, the letter r is about 1100 microns, and the entire word,
which takes up most of the viewing f ield is about 4000 microns across. In reality, you cannot place your
slide over the ruler, so you have to make a guess based on how large your microscopes viewing f ield is.
Calculating High Power Field of View
Measurements on High Power can be a little more complicated. If you
try to use the clear ruler technique, youll f ind that you cannot see the
individual ruler marks. T his is where math comes in, the values you
estimated above can be used to solve a ratio problem and determine
the size of your viewing f ield on high power.

Solving f or High Power Field of View .

X / 2000 = 100/400
X (high power f ield of view) = 500 microns
Now that you have 500 microns as an estimate of your viewing f ield, any object you are viewing under high
power can be estimated based on that. I tell my students to look at a paramecium and guess how many
paramecia can f it end to end on their slide. T hey guess they can f it two, then the length of their
paramecium is about 250 microns.

Using a Stage (Slide) Micrometer

T hese are slides you buy that contain a tiny ruler on them. T he ruler is marked as .01 mm, which means
each little etch mark on the ruler is .01. T he total length of the scale on most stage micrometers is 1 mm,
which then means that there are 1000 microns measured by that scale.
Students tend to get conf used by the scale and metric conversions. If each each mark is .01 mm then that
is equal to 10 microns. T he picture below gives you an idea of how the micrometer looks under low power
(100x). T he image is enlarged a little more due to the camera used to photograph it, so you dont see the
f ull viewing f ield. T he paramecium was superimposed on the shot to illustrate the scale.

In the image above, you would estimate the length of the paramecium to be about 230 microns. In reality,
you cannot place a paramecium slide over a stage micrometer. Instead, you use the micrometer to estimate
your viewing f ield size which can then be used to determine the size of the specimen (similar to estimating
with a ruler f rom steps 1&2). T he advantage of using a stage micrometer is that you are more likely to get
an accurate measurement of the size of your viewing f ield. T he disadvantage is that these slides are close
to $100.00 and may not be worth the cost f or a simple lab on measurement in a high school setting.