Fires electrons that are picked up by a sensor to create images of very small things. What device is this?

Fires electrons that are picked up by a sensor to create images of very small things. What device is this?

• A. Transmission Electron Microscope
• B. Scanning Electron Microscope
• C. Optical Microscope
• D. Atomic Force Microscope

Answer: (B)

A scanning electron microscope works by firing a focused beam of electrons that scans across the sample. When the beam hits the surface, electrons are ejected from the material and picked up by detectors. The signals from those detectors are turned into an image, giving a detailed view of the surface at nanometer-scale resolution. This matches the idea of “firing electrons that are picked up by a sensor to create images of very small things.” Other instruments differ in how they form images: a transmission electron microscope relies on electrons that pass through a thin sample to form an image, not on scanning a surface; an optical microscope uses visible light rather than electrons; an atomic force microscope uses a cantilever to feel the surface forces rather than detecting emitted electrons.

A scanning electron microscope works by firing a focused beam of electrons that scans across the sample. When the beam hits the surface, electrons are ejected from the material and picked up by detectors. The signals from those detectors are turned into an image, giving a detailed view of the surface at nanometer-scale resolution. This matches the idea of “firing electrons that are picked up by a sensor to create images of very small things.”

Other instruments differ in how they form images: a transmission electron microscope relies on electrons that pass through a thin sample to form an image, not on scanning a surface; an optical microscope uses visible light rather than electrons; an atomic force microscope uses a cantilever to feel the surface forces rather than detecting emitted electrons.