Which of the following statements about microscope objectives is correct?

• A. The oil immersion objective has the lowest magnification among all objectives.
• B. Both the scanning and low power objectives have the same magnification.
• C. The low power objective has a greater magnification than the scanning objective.
• D. The scanning objective has a greater magnification than the low power objective.

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand the typical magnifications associated with different microscope objectives. Generally, the scanning objective has the lowest magnification (around 4x), the low power objective has a moderate magnification (around 10x), and the oil immersion objective has the highest magnification (usually 100x).
2. Step 2: Compare the scanning and low power objectives. Since the scanning objective is designed for quickly locating the specimen and has the lowest magnification, the low power objective should have a higher magnification than the scanning objective.
3. Step 3: Evaluate the statement about the oil immersion objective. Given that it is used for very high magnification and resolution, it cannot have the lowest magnification among all objectives.
4. Step 4: Check if the scanning and low power objectives have the same magnification. Since their typical magnifications differ (4x vs. 10x), this statement is incorrect.
5. Step 5: Conclude that the correct statement is that the low power objective has a greater magnification than the scanning objective, based on the standard magnification values for these objectives.