system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5 Why can't we just make an incredibly good microscope that can almost see atoms? Why is there a limit

Why can we not just put enough microscopes together to see molecules or atoms in real time?
gpt
Light moves as a wave and has a property called *wavelength* which is the distance between peaks of the wave, like between crests of ocean waves. We can only see things that are bigger than the wavelength of light; atoms are smaller than this, so light can't reflect off individual atoms only off the surface they make up. This means it is physically impossible to see atoms with light, no matter how good the microscope is.

**However**, there are things called electron microscopes which work by shooting electrons at a material instead of light. Because electrons travel with a shorter wavelength than light, they are in fact capable of "seeing" atoms.

**Edit:** electrons are particles that carry electric charge, like photons are particles that carry light, for anyone who didn't know.