Transmission and Scanning Electron Microscopy Differ Because

Question

Transmission and scanning electron microscopy differ because
A)transmission electron microscopy has high resolution,but scanning electron microscopy does not.
B)transmission electron microscopy shows contrast,but scanning electron microscopy does not.
C)transmission electron microscopy has much higher magnification than scanning electron microscopy.
D)transmission electron microscopy shows two-dimensional ultrastructure,while the scanning electron microscopy shows three-dimensional structure.
E)transmission electron microscopy uses light as an illumination source,while scanning electron microscopy uses electron beams as an illumination sourcE.

Accepted Answer

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) both use electron beams as an illumination source and have high resolution and magnification capabilities. However, TEM shows two-dimensional ultrastructure as it uses a thin sample that is transmitted through by the electron beam, while SEM shows three-dimensional structure by scanning the electron beam over the surface of the sample and detecting the reflected electrons. Differences in contrast can also be attributed to differences in the preparation of samples for each technique, but the main difference in their imaging capabilities is the dimensionality of the ultrastructure they display.