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It is not possible to look at an individual atom with an optical microscope. The reason for this, surprisingly enough, is that photons are too big (in terms of wavelength) and atoms are too small. This might be surprising. Nevertheless, the wavelengths of photons to which the human eye is sensitive are 4000 to 7000 Angstroms, but the size of an atom is 1 to 7 Angstroms (roughly).

There are special microscopes that use electrons, instead of photons, to gather information. A tunnelling electron microscope is such a device. But they are not what most people imagine when they hear the word "microscope."

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15y ago

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Related Questions

Is it possible to see an atom with a special type of microscope?

The atomic force microscope is an instrument.


You can see an atom with?

No device can give the complete structure of an atom but you can get a minute idea about the look of an atom using an Electron Microscope!


What machine is used to look at an atom?

Scanning tunneling electron microscope


How scientists visually look at an atom. What instrument do they use?

with an electron microscope


What does an atom look like when viewed under a microscope?

When viewed under a microscope, an atom appears as a tiny, spherical structure with a dense nucleus at the center, surrounded by even smaller particles called electrons orbiting around it.


How does the microscope aid the scientist?

The microscope aids the scientist by making it possible for them to see cells, get a closer look at small objects, and examining specimens


Can you use a high school microscope to see an atom?

Not unless your highschool has an electron microscope


Why do scientists see a blur when they look at an atom under a microscope?

Scientists see a blur when they look at an atom under a microscope because the size of atoms is on the scale of a few tenths of a nanometer, which is smaller than the wavelength of visible light. This means that the light waves cannot resolve the details of the atom's structure, leading to a blurred image.


Can you use a microscope to look at your finger?

With a normal light microscope, you can't look directly at your finger. It's just too thick for light from underneath to pass through, to reach the microscope lenses. It might be possible to scrape off thin layers of dead skin and put them on a slide to view through a microscope, though.


What part of the microscope you look into?

The part of the microscope that you look into is called the eyepiece.


How do you see a atom?

You Need a really powerful Microscope


Why do scientists get the thinnest possible sample to look at in a microscope?

Scientists get the thinnest possible sample to look at in a microscope in order to reduce light scattering and distortion, which can result in clearer images with higher resolution. Thinner samples also allow for better visualization of fine details and structures within the specimen.