Can a microscope show us an atom?
We use a light microscope to see tiny objects invisible to the naked eye. A light microscope works by magnifying light waves with high-powered lenses. Some of the more powerful light microscopes can magnify an object thousands of times. The E. coli cells shown in the clip above are each so small that thousands of them could fit across the diameter of a needle.
Is it true that if we keep on zooming in on a specimen using more and more powerful lenses, then we can even see the atoms of the specimen?
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5 solutions
Optical resolution depends on 1) size of aperture, and 2) wavelength of light used. Namely, you want 2) large aperture, and 3) shorter wavelengths of light, like X-rays. Ordinary optical glass cannot refract X-rays and harder EM radiation, so that imposes a limit on resolution with regular "light" microscopes. X-ray and electron microscopes offer far higher resolutions because they involve shorter wavelengths. With X-ray crystallography, one can see atoms in an array, for reasons of "optical diffraction". With electron microscopes, it is now possible to see and track individual atoms. Even though electrons are particles, not radiation, they nevertheless have a quantum de Broglie wavelength far shorter than of ordinary light.