A student is having trouble focusing a letter "e" using his compound microscope. He is using the 10x low-power objective and the fine focus knob. What suggestions would you offer him?
Select one:
a. Switch to high power to see greater detail.
b. Adjust the iris to reduce the amount of light.
c. Try using a new letter "e".
d. Switch to the scanning objective and use the coarse focus knob.

Question

A student is having trouble focusing a letter "e" using his compound microscope. He is using the 10x low-power objective and the fine focus knob. What suggestions would you offer him?
Select one:
a. Switch to high power to see greater detail.
b. Adjust the iris to reduce the amount of light.
c. Try using a new letter "e".
d. Switch to the scanning objective and use the coarse focus knob.

anonymous · Answer

Well, when using a microscope the fine tuning knob is used to make small changes in the current microscope view. So, it should be clear that the student has to change a knob. Also a common lab instruction is to start on a low setting for the microscope and work your way up to a higher setting while keeping the subject in focus. So it should be clear again that going to a higher resolution would be essentially pointless without the "e" in the viewfinder.

Hope that helps.