Which outcome fundamentally limits resolution in optical microscopes?

💡 Explanation

Resolution is limited by diffraction; the **interference** of diffracted light creates overlapping patterns blurring details. Because the Airy disk size is inversely proportional to the objective's numerical aperture, resolution is degraded therefore, rather than the lens effects cited in other answers.

• Which effect accelerates free radicals at grain boundaries?
• Which consequence results when two unsynchronized lasers interfere?
• Which outcome arises when attempting to use entangled photons for faster-than-light classical communication?
• Which mechanism causes increased brittleness in steel when exposed to prolonged neutron irradiation within a nuclear reactor's core?
• Which outcome accompanies isentropic compression within a refrigeration cycle?
• Which outcome occurs when excessive vibrational energy is transferred to a diatomic molecule?