Scribd
Upload
218 views

Field of View Lecture Notes PDF

The field of view (FOV) is the diameter of the circle of light seen through a microscope. As magnification increases, the FOV decreases. The FOV can be measured under low power using a ruler. In the example, a FOV of 4.5 mm was measured, which equals 4500 micrometers. Under higher powers, the FOV shrinks further and is harder to measure directly, but can be calculated using magnification ratios. Knowing the FOV is important for estimating sizes of objects observed under the microscope.

Uploaded by

Irish Rabano
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
218 views

Field of View Lecture Notes PDF

The field of view (FOV) is the diameter of the circle of light seen through a microscope. As magnification increases, the FOV decreases. The FOV can be measured under low power using a ruler. In the example, a FOV of 4.5 mm was measured, which equals 4500 micrometers. Under higher powers, the FOV shrinks further and is harder to measure directly, but can be calculated using magnification ratios. Knowing the FOV is important for estimating sizes of objects observed under the microscope.

Uploaded by

Irish Rabano
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

In a microscope, the field of view (FOV) is the diameter of

the circle of light that you see when looking through a


microscope
FOV = diameter
of circle of light

As the magnification power gets greater, the FOV gets


smaller

40X
100X
400X

We can measure the FOV of our microscope using a


transparent ruler. To accurately do this, however, we need
to take the measurement at the lowest power of our
microscope.

1
Finding FOV under low power:

1. Place the transparent plastic ruler on the stage so that the ruler’s
edge is centered in your field of view under low power:

2. Position the ruler so one of the millimeter markings is just


visible to the left side of your circle in your field of view

4 1 2 3 4 4

2. Count the number of whole millimeters that you see, and


estimate the fractions of millimeters that you see. In the above
diagram, we see 4 whole millimeters, and about ½ of a
millimeter

So in the above example, our FOV is approximately 4.5 mm.

2
So how many MICROMETERS (microns) would our FOV be in the previous
example??? (HINT: Remember that 1000 micrometers equals 1 millimeter)

4.5 mm = ________?_______ micrometers

4.5 mm = 4500 micrometers (um)

If we switch to the medium


power objective (yellow circle),
we see that our FOV becomes smaller

And if we switch to the high


power objective (blue circle),
4 1 2 3 4 4
we see that our FOV becomes even smaller

It becomes very difficult to accurately estimate the diameter of the FOV when we
switch to higher power. Therefore we can perform a simple calculation to determine
the FOV under high power:

High power magnification = Low power FOV


Low power magnification High power FOV

400X = 4.5mm
40X x

Now all you have to do is cross multiply and divide to solve for x:
40 x 4.5mm = 180mm
180mm/400 = 0.45mm

So “x”, or your high power FOV equals 0.45mm which equals 450 micrometers (um)
THAT’S SMALL!!
☺
3
WHY DO YOU THINK KNOWING THE FOV IS IMPORTANT?

When you know the diameter of your FOV under both low and high power, you can use
this information to ESTIMATE the size of objects you examine under the compound
microscope!

Let’s look at an example:


Look at the diagram to the left.
Let’s say that the FOV is 4.5mm,
or 4500 um in diameter. Twenty
circular objects fit across the
FOV. Since each object takes up
4500 um 1/20th of the diameter (FOV), the
size of each object is 225 um:

4500 = 225
20

Now YOU try one!

If 4 organisms fit across a FOV that has a diameter 1800 um


of 1800 um, how large is each organism?

1800 = 450 um
4

ALWAYS REMEMBER TO INCLUDE YOUR UNITS!!!!!

You might also like