Light vs Electron Microscopes

• Light microscope

  • uses light
  • small
  • easy to use
  • relatively cheap
• Resolution of light microscope

  Limited to 0.2 micrometers, any details less than 0.2 micrometers apart will appear blurry
• What light microscopes can be used to see

  • Individual cells like onion cells
• Electron microscope


  • really big
  • very expensive
  • hard to use
  • only used by scientists in laboratories
• Resolution of electron microscope


  Maximum resolution of 0.1 nanometers, 2000 times better than light microscopes.

  Electron microscopes can give images with much higher magnifications without going blurry.
• What electron microscopes can be used to study

  • Sub-cellular structures like mitochondria
• Comparing light and electron microscopes


  Electron microscopes have 2000 times better resolution than light microscopes