Question

What is one difference between specimen preparation for a transmission electron microscope (TEM) and preparation for a scanning electron microscope (SEM)?

a) TEM uses thinner sections
b) SEM uses thinner sections
c) TEM uses whole-mount specimens
d) SEM uses whole-mount specimens

Answer 1

One difference between specimen preparation for a TEM and SEM is that TEM uses thinner sections, while SEM does not.

Step-by-step explanation:

One difference between specimen preparation for a transmission electron microscope (TEM) and preparation for a scanning electron microscope (SEM) is that TEM uses thinner sections while SEM does not.

In TEM, the specimen must be extremely thin, usually between 20 to 100 nm thick, in order for the electrons to pass through. This requires slicing the specimen into thin sections using an ultramicrotome. On the other hand, SEM does not require thin sections and can view the surfaces of larger objects or very small samples.

TEM also requires the specimen to be dehydrated and in a vacuum, while SEM does not have these requirements.