∞ generated and posted on 2016.01.12 ∞
Magnification device, for viewing small objects, that possesses two lenses, particularly an objective lens and an ocular lens.
The two lenses of a compound microscope are arranged serially, that is with light first passing through the objective lens and then the ocular lens. As a result, the magnification from each lens directly contributes to the overall magnification of the microscope. See by contrast simple microscope.
Figure legend: A Nikon compound light microscope with various parts labeled.
Generally compound microscopes are able to achieve higher magnification than simple (single-lens) microscopes but also are harder to design because they are more prone to optical distortion than are simple microscopes. Optical distortion, however, is relatively absent in a typical, modern, compound microscope such as that used in most microbiology laboratories.