Here’s what happens when you just keep zooming in. Use code veritasium at https://incogni.com/veritasium to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan. A big thank you to Magnus Garbrecht from the University of Sydney for showing us around the lab and for his feedback on the script. Special thanks to Quentin Ramasse for his expertise on the video. ▀▀▀ 0:00 Why is it hard to see atoms? 2:12 How does an electron microscope work? 4:09 Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) 5:11 Spherical Aberration 8:55 Field Ion Microscope 11:05 Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (STEM) 13:24 Probe microscopes 14:02 An unlikely solution 18:08 Seeing atoms ▀▀▀ Join us on Patreon for early access videos, bonus content, and to support Veritasium! https://ve42.co/PatreonDE Adam Foreman, Albert Wenger, Alexander Tamas, Anton Ragin, Autodidactic Studios, Bertrand Serlet, Blake Byers, Bruce, Dave Kircher, David Johnston, Evgeny Skvortsov, Garrett Mueller, Gnare, gpoly, Greg Scopel, Juan Benet, Keith England, KeyWestr, Kyi, Lee Redden, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Matthias Wrobel, Meekay, meg noah, Michael Krugman, Orlando Bassotto, Paul Peijzel, Richard Sundvall, Sam Lutfi, Tj Steyn, TTST, Ubiquity Ventures, and wolfee If you’re looking for a molecular modeling kit, try Snatoms, a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically - https://ve42.co/SnatomsV ▀▀▀ References: Busch, H. (1926). Berechnung der Bahn von Kathodenstrahlen im axialsymmetrischen elektromagnetischen Felde. Annalen Der Physik - https://ve42.co/Busch1926 Ruska, E. (1986). The development of the electron microscope and of electron microscopy. Nobel Lecture - https://ve42.co/Ruska1986 Scherzer, O. (1936) - https://ve42.co/Scherzer1936 Jensen, G. (2015). Part 1: EM Lenses. Caltech - https://ve42.co/Jensen2015 Field Ion Microscope via Wikipedia - https://ve42.co/FieldIon Transmission Electron Microscope via Wikipedia - https://ve42.co/MicroscopeTEM Albert V. Crewe biography via UChicagoNews Microscopy Society of America - https://ve42.co/CreweBio McMullan, D. (1993). Scanning Electron Microscopy 1928 - 1965. Microscopy Society of America, Cincinnati - https://ve42.co/McMullan1993 Electric and Magnetic Field Lenses via MIT - https://ve42.co/LensesMIT Haider, M. et al. (1998). Towards 0.1 nm resolution with the first spherically corrected transmission electron microscope. Journal of Electron Microscopy - https://ve42.co/Haider1998_1 Haider, M. et al. (1998). Electron microscopy image enhanced. Nature - https://ve42.co/Haider1998_2 Krivanek, O. et al. (2022). Aberration correction in the STEM. CRC Press EBooks - https://ve42.co/Krivanek2022 Crewe, A. V., et al. (1970). Visibility of Single Atoms. Science - https://ve42.co/Crewe1970 Secrets of Size: Atoms to Supergalaxies via the BBC - https://ve42.co/AtomsBBC Pennycook, S. J. (2012). Seeing the atoms more clearly: STEM imaging from the Crewe era to today. Ultramicroscopy - https://ve42.co/Pennycook2012 Rose, H. H. (2009). Historical aspects of aberration correction. Journal of Electron Microscopy - https://ve42.co/Rose2009 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience via kavliprize.org - https://ve42.co/Kavli2020 Vogt, T. (2019) Aberration-Corrected Electron Microscopy - https://ve42.co/Vogt2019 Images & Video: Available here - https://ve42.co/AtomsVisuals ▀▀▀ Directed by Gregor Čavlović, Derek Muller, and Tim Usborne Written by Gregor Čavlović, Tim Usborne, Emily Zhang, and Casper Mebius Edited by Trenton Oliver and Charlie Grayley Animated by Mike Radjabov, Fabio Albertelli, Ivy Tello, Emma Wright, and Andrew Neet Illustrated by Jakub Misiek and Maria Gusakovich Filmed by Charles Clements Additional research by Gabe Bean, Geeta Thakur, and Emili Gyles Produced by Casper Mebius, Derek Muller, Emily Zhang, Gregor Čavlović, Rob Beasley Spence, Tori Brittain, Gabe Bean, Luke Lewis, and Matthew Cavanagh Thumbnail contributions by Ben Powell, Ren Hurley, and Peter Sheppard Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images, Storyblocks Music from Epidemic Sound