An electron microscope uses electrons accelerated by a voltage of 50 kV. Determine the de Broglie wavelength associated with the electrons. If other factors ( such as numerical aperture, etc. ) are taken roughly to be the same, how does the resolving power of an electron microscope compare with that of an optical microscope which uses yellow light (`lambda_(y) = 5.9 xx 10^(-7) m ) `.

Explanation

`lambda=5.5xx10^(-12)m`
`lambda" (yellow light)"=5.9xx10^(-7)m`
Resolving Power (RP) is inversely proportional to wavelength. Thus, RP of an electron microscope is about `10^(5)` times that of an optical microscope. In practice, differences in other (geometrical) factors can change this comparison somewhat.