Question 1

I just recieved a new microscope for christmas/ what do I need to start making slides ?

Accepted Answer

You won't need immersion oil unless your microscope comes with a very high magnification lens (ie 1000x). Slide preparation depends entirely upon the specimen you hope to view under magnification. A good easy start might be some lint from your bellybutton or pocket. Just type "introduction to microscopy" or something like that into a search engine and you'll be able to learn all about the fundamentals of using a microscope. Good luck!

Question 2

Is this just mineral oil?

Accepted Answer

No. This is a specific formulation created to have optical properties that adhere to industry standards. Only Cargille knows the exact formula but it is more than mineral oil.

Question 3

do I need immersion oil to study fibers?

Accepted Answer

I don't know the size of the fibers you are studying, but you would only apply immersion oil when viewing your slide with an oil immersion objective, which is typically 100x.  The objective will be labeled "oil" or "oel".  Immersion oil forms a thin layer between your slide and the lens in the objective.  Combined with your 10x ocular, you would be viewing the specimen at 1000x.  Do not use immersion oil in this way with your other "dry" objectives - you will ruin them.  There is one exception, however:  You may apply a thin drop of oil to a DRY, stained smear, such as blood or other tissue, then place a coverslip over the area of interest to help reduce refraction when viewing with lower power objectives, such as 10x or 40x. Use only Type A for this, as it is thinner.  Once you have placed the oil and applied your coverslip, adding another drop of oil on top of coverslip to use the 1000x oil objective may cause your coverslip to move out of place while scanning at 1000x, so you may want to carefully remove the coverslip before proceeding with 1000x and view it the conventional way with the drop of oil directly on the specimen.  Alternatively, you could apply Permount or other mounting medium to your dry smear to permanently affix the coverslip; the Permount would serve the same purpose as the oil in reducing refraction, but also enable you to add immersion oil on top of the coverslip, should you need to also view the specimen at 1000x with your oil immersion objective. Using the thinnest coverslips and Type A oil will give you the clearest view for mounted slides.  Depending on the size of your fibers and the detail you need, either viewing them as a wet mount under a coverslip (either with water, saline or other liquid) or the immersion oil technique described above may help reduce refraction of three dimensional objects.

Question 4

is this a synthetic oil or natural oil? does it dry and get hard or stay liquid?

Accepted Answer

I could but I won’t.  Because Amazon blocked a comment that they thought was unfavorable related to them.  Talk about “thin shinned”.

AmScope ML-A-A Microscope Immersion Oil, 1/4 Oz

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