Difference between Electron Microscope and Light Microscope. The compound light microscope focuses visible light through a specimen. Different regions of the object scatter the light differently, producing an image. The use of light microscope is limited. A limit of a light microscope is that the user can view only two dimensional plane of the specimen at a time. Electron microscope is a device for forming greatly magnified images of objects by means of electrons. Electron microscope serves primary two purposes: i) the visual examination of structures too fine to be resolved with ordinary, or light microscopes, and ii) the study of surfaces that emit electrons.