What is a petrographic microscope, and is it needed for my application? These are questions that some ask before purchasing microscope equipment. Basically, a polarized microscope is an optical tool that has the ability to do plane polarized light incident on the specimen. The specimen is typically a rock thin section or other birefringent specimen that responds to polarized light. The polarizing microscope also has an analyzer that can polarize the light a second time before it reaches the microscopist’s eyepieces. This analyzer is a second polarized filter and can be rotated at an angle to the first filter. Often, the polarizing filters need to be crossed, for a condion called crossed polars, so the extinction angle is reached. A study of optical mineralogy gives one an insight to the importance of this extinction angle and how measurements can be taken so a geologist can identify rocks and minerals. Most geologists will have in their arsenal of equipment a good petrography microscope. If you are in need of such equipment, please don’t hesitate to call our microscope store’s sales team today to discuss what equipment and accessories are best for your application.
Call our Sales Hotline at 1-877-215-3795
or email sales@truevisionmicroscopes.com
