What are the two most common types of electron microscopy?

• A. Transmission and Scanning
• B. Transmission and Fluorescence
• C. Scanning and Phase-contrast
• D. Transmission and Atomic force

Answer: (A)

When you think of electron microscopy, the two workhorse modalities are transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Transmission electron microscopy images internal details by transmitting electrons through a very thin specimen, giving high-resolution views of ultrastructure. Scanning electron microscopy, on the other hand, images the surface by scanning a focused electron beam over the specimen, producing detailed surface topography. These two cover the most common needs in labs: TEM for internal architecture and SEM for surface morphology. Other options—fluorescence microscopy uses light and fluorescent dyes, phase-contrast is a light-microscopy technique for living cells, and atomic force microscopy is a scanning probe method that isn’t based on electrons—fit different niches, which is why they aren’t considered the main electron-microscopy pair.