Question

Compare and contrast a compound light microscope and a transmission electron microscope. Be sure to discuss the structure and operation of each, as well as the function and usefulness of each when examining specimens.

Answer 1

Transmission electron microscope -
 The transmission electron microscope uses electrons instead of light
. a light microscope is limited by the wavelength of light.
TEMs use electrons as "light source" and their much lower wavelength makes it possible to get a resolution a thousand times better than with a light microscope
. The possibility for high magnifications has made the TEM a valuable tool in both medical, biological and materials research.Compound light microscope
- Microscope with more than one lens and its own light source
. There are ocular lenses in the bonicular eyepieces and objective lenses in a rotating nosepiece closer to the specimen. To ascertain the power of magnification of a compund light microscope, it's needed to take the power of the objective lens and multiply it by the eyepiece which is generally 10x. Although sometimes found as monocular with one ocular lens, the compound binocular microscope is more commonly used today. The first light microscope dates back to 1595, when Zacharias Jansen created a compound microscope that used collapsing tubes and produced magnifications up to 9X.