Question:easy
A poison which is luminous, translucent and waxy is
A poison which is luminous, translucent and waxy is
Show Hint
Think of the poison stored under water that glows in the dark and smells of garlic.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- Iodine
- Ammonium bromide
- Cobra venom
- Yellow phosphorus
Show Solution
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
The question asks you to match a description with a poison having three specific physical traits: it glows in the dark (luminous), light passes partly through it (translucent), and it feels waxy.
Yellow phosphorus uniquely fits all three. It is stored under water precisely because, on exposure to air, it undergoes slow oxidation that releases energy as a pale glow, which is the origin of the word phosphorescence. Its texture is soft and waxy and it appears translucent yellow.
Eliminating the rest is straightforward. Iodine forms dark shiny crystals that turn directly into violet vapour and is neither waxy nor luminous. Ammonium bromide is an ordinary white crystalline salt used historically as a sedative. Cobra venom is a liquid mixture of enzymes and neurotoxic proteins, not a solid with optical glow.
Clinically, yellow phosphorus is a powerful hepatotoxic and protoplasmic poison; the breath and excreta may smell of garlic and the stools can be luminous, a sign that strongly points back to this agent.
Hence the poison described is yellow phosphorus.
\[\boxed{\text{Yellow phosphorus}}\]
Yellow phosphorus uniquely fits all three. It is stored under water precisely because, on exposure to air, it undergoes slow oxidation that releases energy as a pale glow, which is the origin of the word phosphorescence. Its texture is soft and waxy and it appears translucent yellow.
Eliminating the rest is straightforward. Iodine forms dark shiny crystals that turn directly into violet vapour and is neither waxy nor luminous. Ammonium bromide is an ordinary white crystalline salt used historically as a sedative. Cobra venom is a liquid mixture of enzymes and neurotoxic proteins, not a solid with optical glow.
Clinically, yellow phosphorus is a powerful hepatotoxic and protoplasmic poison; the breath and excreta may smell of garlic and the stools can be luminous, a sign that strongly points back to this agent.
Hence the poison described is yellow phosphorus.
\[\boxed{\text{Yellow phosphorus}}\]
Was this answer helpful?
0
