Final answer:
The advantage of a stained cell over a wet mount cell is a) increased contrast. Staining enhances visibility of cell structures, but does not directly improve resolution or magnification, which are attributed to the microscope's capabilities.
Step-by-step explanation:
The advantage of a stained cell over a wet mount cell is increased contrast. Stains in microscopy are used to increase the contrast by adding color to specific components of the cell, making them more visible under a microscope. This ability to distinguish different structures within the cell is essential, especially when they are relatively transparent. Microscopes that are used often, such as brightfield microscopes, may not provide the necessary contrast to make certain structures visible without the use of stains.
Resolving power is defined as the ability of a microscope to distinguish two adjacent structures as separate; higher resolution means better clarity and detail of the image. While staining does not directly increase resolution or magnification, it does enhance the visibility of structures within the cell, which can be mistaken as an improvement in resolution. However, it's important to note that magnification simply enlarges the image, and resolution determines the clarity, which is inherently tied to the microscope's capabilities.
Lastly, when working with light microscopes, the resolution is generally high, and they are advantageous for viewing living cells as well as for educational purposes. However, electron microscopes such as the transmission electron microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) offer higher magnifications and resolutions but are also more complex and costly.