Medium2 marksMultiple Choice
Cell BiologyFoundationMicroscopyElectron Microscope

AQA GCSE · Question 04.6 · Cell Biology

How would onion cells look different if they were seen using an electron microscope?

Tick (✔) two boxes.

Answer options:

A.

The cells would be coloured.

B.

The cells would have no nuclei.

C.

The cells would look larger.

D.

The cells would look more blurred.

E.

The cells would show more internal structures.

How to approach this question

Recall the two main advantages of an electron microscope over a light microscope. Think about magnification (how big the image is) and resolution (how clear and detailed the image is). Select the two options that describe these advantages.

Full Answer

Electron microscopes differ from light microscopes in two key ways: 1. **Higher Magnification:** They use a beam of electrons instead of light, which allows them to magnify images to a much greater extent (often over 200,000x). This means the cells would look much larger. 2. **Higher Resolution:** Resolution is the ability to distinguish between two points that are close together. Electron microscopes have a much higher resolving power, meaning they can produce a much clearer, more detailed image. This allows us to see smaller sub-cellular structures (organelles) like ribosomes, the internal structure of mitochondria, and the endoplasmic reticulum, which are not visible with a light microscope.

Common mistakes

✗ Thinking electron microscopes produce coloured images.\n✗ Confusing higher resolution with being more blurred.

Practice the full AQA GCSE Biology Foundation Tier Paper 1

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