40x on microscope is so hard to focus?

Question

I'm trying to look at my sperm on my microscope w/ 40x, but I can't see a dang thing. Any hints?

Answer 1

I'd say you need a more powerful scope; the human sperm is the smallest cell in the body, hands down. Try a 100x.

Answer 2

Try this method. Focus on low power, getting the slide focused as clearly as possible. Since this slide is very thin (the specimen is not thick), carefully turn the nosepiece to click the 40X objective into place without changing the focus. Then carefully turn the fine adjustment knob away a tiny bit as you look through the eyepiece. The specimen should come into view. This method works for almost every specimen that is not too thick.

Sperms are easily seen with a 40X objective and a 10X eyepiece, or 400X total magnification. You should not need any stain or other manipulation of the specimen. Try changing the amount of light on the specimen by adjusting the diaphram or by moving an index card over the light source until the view changes. It's a very interesting sight to see live sperms.

Answer 3

While on this topic, make sure you aren't trying to use an oil-immersion 40x lens without oil; they're designed to adjust the wavelength slightly to account for the thin film of oil -- using them dry will make it seem as if you simply can't focus the lens properly.

Answer 4

The sperm is very small with a diameter of 2.5 micro meter. Either you try using an electron microscope or you didn't adjust the the coarse adjustment lens or fine adjustment lens well. Or you didn't put your specimen correctly-- not under the light.

Answer 5

shootin blanks?