Answer the question on basis of passage given below:
Chloroform is a very useful solvent for oils, fats and waxes and many organic compounds. It can also be used for preserving biological specimens. Chloroform was used as a general anaesthetic in surgery for a long time but because of its toxic nature, it is no longer used these days.
Chloroform is useful for us because :
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → It can be used as a solvent for oil, fats, waxes and organic compounds and also for preserving biological specimens
Chloroform (trichloromethane, \( \ce{CHCl3} \)) is a good non-polar solvent: oils, fats, waxes, alkaloids, iodine and many organic compounds dissolve in it. The passage also names its second use, preserving biological specimens. Today its main industrial use is in making the refrigerant R-22.
Why the other options are incorrect
Option (2) Fat, waxes and organic compounds are not soluble in it. — Incorrect. Fats, waxes and organic compounds are soluble in chloroform; that is why it is useful as a solvent.
Option (3) It is useful to destroy the biological specimens. — Incorrect. Chloroform is used to preserve biological specimens, not to destroy them.
Option (4) It releases phosgene gas after reaction with carbon dioxide, which is important for aquatic life. — Incorrect. Phosgene (\( \ce{COCl2} \)) is formed by oxidation of chloroform with air in light, not by reaction with carbon dioxide, and it is an extremely poisonous gas, not something useful for aquatic life.
NCERT (2026-27 edition):
Trichloromethane (Chloroform) – “Chemically, chloroform is employed as a solvent for fats, alkaloids, iodine and other substances. The major use of chloroform today is in the production of the freon refrigerant R-22. It was once used as a general anaesthetic in surgery but has been replaced by less toxic, safer anaesthetics, such as ether.”