How does an electron microscope works?
Electron Microscopy Electron microscopy is a tool for looking at very small objects. Light microscopy, the type of microscopy most of us have seen in school or on television, uses a series of lenses that bend visible light waves to create a magnified image. However, since visible light will not show us objects that are less than about 0.1 micrometer (about one ten-thousandth of an inch), light microscopes do not provide the very high magnification needed to see many tiny things in the ocean, such as structures on and in cells and particles suspended in seawater. For this we need to use an electron beam rather than visible light. The images to the right are of an amoeba responsible for a major disease in blue crabs. The top image viewed is through an electron microscope and the bottom image is viewed through a light microscope. Click on each image to see a larger version. Notice that the tiny scales that cover the amoeba are only visible in the electron microscope image. How Does It Wor
