Microscope?

Question

I'm soon going to have a microscope and i have a problem with the slides.... this microscope will have 5 slides....when i put things on it to observe will i be able to re use it? How can i do this? Pls answer asap 10 pts to the best answer

Answer 1

Yes, you can re-use slides.  If you are looking at something dry, you can just sprinkle it on the slide.  Pollen and little bugs are very fun to look at.   The slide is just to hold them in place and let light through from below.  When you are done you can clean off the slide.    If you are looking at liquids, you usually use what's called a coverslip.  It's a very thin piece of glass that you put on top of the liquid to flatten it out.  Otherwise, you end up with a big drop of liquid and run the danger of sticking your lens into it by accident, and the drop is too thick to look at.  You need the slip to thin it and spread it out.  You can remove the coverslip and wash the slide when you are done, but the coverslips break very easily.

Sometimes microscopes come with prepared slides.  These are slides that already have something that is usually glued to them.  In that case, you can re-use them, but you will always have the same thing on them.  You can make your own permanent slides with stuff that you find in the same way, but you will only be able to make 5.

You can always buy more slides and coverslips in case you break them or if you want to make more prepared slides.  Just go to a supplier, such as edmond scientific online--see link below.