A research technician is characterizing various eukaryotic cell structures using different microscopes. The average dimensions of the target structures are shown in the table below:
Sub-cellular StructureAverage Dimension (nm)Ribosome20Nuclear Pore80Lysosome500Mitochondrion (width)1000 \begin{array}{|c|c|} \hline \textbf{Sub-cellular Structure} & \textbf{Average Dimension (nm)} \\ \hline \text{Ribosome} & 20 \\ \hline \text{Nuclear Pore} & 80 \\ \hline \text{Lysosome} & 500 \\ \hline \text{Mitochondrion (width)} & 1000 \\ \hline \end{array} Sub-cellular StructureRibosomeNuclear PoreLysosomeMitochondrion (width)Average Dimension (nm)20805001000The technician has a light microscope with a maximum practical resolution of 200 nm200\text{ nm}200 nm and a transmission electron microscope (TEM) with a maximum practical resolution of 0.1 nm0.1\text{ nm}0.1 nm.
Which statement correctly explains which structures can be resolved by each microscope, and the physical basis for this difference?
The light microscope can resolve only the lysosome and the mitochondrion, whereas the TEM can resolve all four structures, because the wavelength of an electron beam is much shorter than that of visible light, giving the TEM a much smaller limit of resolution.
The light microscope can resolve only the ribosome and the nuclear pore because visible light has a wavelength shorter than 100 nm100\text{ nm}100 nm, whereas the TEM can resolve all four structures by using glass lenses to focus higher energy photons.
The light microscope can resolve all four structures when using a higher magnification (e.g., ×1500\times 1500×1500), whereas the TEM is required only to resolve the inner membrane of the lysosome because electrons have a longer wavelength that penetrates lipids.
The light microscope can resolve only the lysosome and the mitochondrion, whereas the TEM can resolve all four structures, because the TEM uses visible light focused by electromagnets to achieve a larger limit of resolution.