what is a compound light microscope and what is it used for?
A compound microscope uses a lens close to the object being viewed to collect light (called the objective lens) which focuses a real image of the object inside the microscope (image 1). That image is then magnified by a second lens or group of lenses (called the eyepiece) that gives the viewer an enlarged inverted virtual image of the object (image 2).
Compound Light Microscope: The microscope pictured above is referred to as a compound light microscope. The term light refers to the method by which light transmits the image to your eye. Compound deals with the microscope having more than one lens. Microscope is the combination of two words; micro meaning small and scope meaning view. Early microscopes, like Leeuwenhoek's, were called simple because they only had one lens. Simple scopes work like magnifying glasses that you have seen and/or used.