Question: Why do you use electron microscopes?

Kerry O'Shea answered on 14 Nov 2014:

I use electron microscopes because ‘normal’ microscopes which use visible light don’t allow us to see anything smaller than about a quarter of a millimeter, which is because of the wavelength of the light used. Electrons have a much smaller wavelength than light so we can use them to see things on a much smaller scale, like single atoms.

Electron microscopes are a bit more compliated because we can’t see electrons, so we have to transfer the signal into light. We can’t focus electrons with typical glass lenses used in light microscopes either. They are much more complicated pieces of equipment but allow us to see things in great detail!