Practical Support 9: Size and Scale

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Student skills
Practical support 9 Size and scale

Measuring sizes under the light microscope
When measuring the size of a cell, organelle or specimen down a microscope, an
eyepiece graticule is used. This is similar to a normal eyepiece but it contains a disc
engraved with a scale. The divisions that make up the scale are called eyepiece graticule
units. The eyepiece graticule units have to be calibrated before the scale can be used to
measure specimens.
Calibrating the eyepiece graticule
Calibrating the eyepiece graticule is done using a stage micrometer, which is a slide
with an accurate linear scale engraved on it. This slide is placed on the microscope
stage. Looking down the microscope, both scales can be seen at the same time. This
allows the size of the divisions on the eyepiece graticule to be measured. One large
division on the stage micrometer is 1000 m (1 mm). Each large division is divided into
10 smaller divisions, each 100 m (0.1 mm) wide.
1
Place the stage micrometer on the microscope stage.
Line up the divisions on the eyepiece graticule with those of the micrometer as
shown in Figure 1.
Work out the length of one eyepiece graticule unit in micrometres as shown in
Figure 1.
Repeat for each of the objective lenses on the microscope.

A
B
eyepiece
graticule scale
1
0
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
6
7
stage micrometer
scale
A Line up a main division on the eyepiece graticule scale with a main division
on the stage micrometer scale (1 on the eyepiece graticule scale and 1 on
the stage micrometer scale in the example above).
B Read off the values where the divisions line up further along the scale
(4 on the eyepiece graticule scale and 5 on the stage micrometer scale in
the example above).
In this example:
3 eyepiece graticule units 4 micrometer units 4000 lm
Therefore:
1 eyepiece graticule unit
4000
3
1333 lm
Figure 1 How to measure the length of one eyepiece graticule unit.
Salters-Nuffield Advanced Biology, Harcourt Education Ltd 2005. University of York Science Education Group.
This sheet may have been altered from the original.
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Student skills
Using the eyepiece graticule to measure the length of objects

1
Place a slide on the microscope stage.
Measure the length of the specimen (e.g. the length of one cell) in eyepiece graticule
units using the eyepiece graticule scale.
Calculate the length of the specimen in m by multiplying the length in eyepiece

graticule units by the calibration value for 1 unit (1333 m in the example on p. 1).
Questions
Q1 Convert the lengths below to micrometres.
a 2 mm
b 0.5 mm
c 0.01 mm
Q2 Convert the measurements below to millimetres.
a 300 m
b 3500 m
c 15 m
Q3 Under a low-power lens exactly 1 mm was equal to 7 eyepiece graticule units. What is the
length of 1 eyepiece graticule unit in micrometres?
Q4 Under a high-power objective lens 87.0 small divisions (8.70 eyepiece graticule units) measure
300 lm. What is the size of each eyepiece graticule unit in micrometres?
Q5 The same lens and eyepiece graticule as calibrated in Question 4 was used to view a white
blood cell. The diagram in Figure 2 shows the cell and eyepiece graticule scale. Work out the
diameter of the white blood cell.
Figure 2 Cell and eyepiece graticule scale.
Scales and magnification

If you draw a specimen and measure its length, or the length of part of the specimen,
such as the width of a single alveolus, a scale bar should be added to the drawing. This
gives an indication of the size of the specimen.
If you draw a specimen from a slide, the magnification should be added to the diagram.
This is often just given as the magnification of the microscope lens used. The
magnification of the eyepiece lens is multiplied by the objective lens magnification to
give the total magnification. For example, most high-power lenses are 40 and eyepiece
lenses are 10, giving a total magnification of 400. This does not give any indication
of the size of the specimen.
If you draw a specimen from a slide and measure its length using an eyepiece graticule,
you can work out the magnification of the drawing.
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Measure the length of the specimen in eyepiece graticule units.
Work out the specimens length in micrometres (m).
Measure the length of specimen on the drawing in cm or mm and convert to m.
Work out the magnification by dividing the length of the drawn specimen in m by
the length of actual specimen in m.
For example, using the lens calibrated in Figure 1, if the specimen measured is
4 eyepiece graticule units wide, then the cells width is:
1333 m 4 5332 lm
Suppose the drawing of the specimen is 70 mm wide (this is 70 000 m):
magnification
70 000
5332
13
Answers
Q1 a 2000 m
b 500 m
c 10 m
Q2 a 0.3 mm
b 3.5 mm
c 0.015 mm
Q3 143 m
Q4 34.5 m
Q5 Diameter of cell is 4.2 eyepiece graticule units. 1 eyepiece graticule unit is 34.5 m. Diameter
of cell in micrometres is 140 m (to 2 s.f.).
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09 P0.

Practical support 9 Size and scale

Place the stage micrometer on the microscope stage.

Repeat for each of the objective lenses on the microscope.

Figure 1 How to measure the length of one eyepiece graticule unit.

Practical support 9 Size and scale

Using the eyepiece graticule to measure the length of objects

Place a slide on the microscope stage.

Calculate the length of the specimen in m by multiplying the length in eyepiece

Figure 2 Cell and eyepiece graticule scale.

Scales and magnification

Practical support 9 Size and scale

Measure the length of the specimen in eyepiece graticule units.

Work out the specimens length in micrometres (m).

Measure the length of specimen on the drawing in cm or mm and convert to m.

of cell in micrometres is 140 m (to 2 s.f.).

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