What would happen if we could zoom in with a microscope infinitely? Would we keep seeing more detail or is there a ‘cut off’ where we can’t see any more detail?
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> Would we keep SEEING more detail
Am I the only one who feels most answers ignore this operative word?
I’m standing in a corner of a dark garage, i.e. I can’t see.
I do however have a ping pong cannon.
Fire enough balls (and collect those bouncing back at me) and I can learn to discern an empty garage from one with a car in it. Maybe even figure out the shape of the car.
This is a very ELI5 of what “seeing” means. The cannon is a light source and the ping pong balls are photons (which my eyes collect passively).
Can I use this method with smaller objects placed on the garage floor?
A suitcase – no problem. A coffee mug – sure. What about a grain of salt?
When something is so light and small compared to the ping pong ball, either the ball bounces back from the floor as if there’s nothing on it, or maybe the ball just knocked off the grain (so the next ball *really* bounces off an empty floor).
> is there a ‘cut off’ where we can’t see any more detail?
Yes, the size of the ping pong ball limits what I can “see” with it. That’s the wave length other answers refer to.
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