Question

1 mg of powdered lycopodium consists of

• A. 74000 spores
• B. 84500 spores
• C. 94000 spores
• D. 9400 spores

Hint:

The lycopodium spore method is a way to count how many particles (like starch grains) are in a powdered drug under a microscope.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Concept:
The lycopodium spore method is a way to count how many particles (like starch grains) are in a powdered drug under a microscope. It works because lycopodium spores are uniform in size, so a known weight of them always contains the same number of spores.

Step 1:
The standard value that students must memorise for this method is that 1 milligram of lycopodium powder contains about 94000 spores.

Step 2:
This fixed number is what lets you set up the counting formula: you mix the drug with lycopodium, count both under the microscope, and use the 94000 figure to back-calculate the amount of drug present.

Step 3:
So the correct figure is 94000, not the close-looking distractors like 9400 (ten times too small) or the other rounded values.

Answer: Option (3) — 94000 spores.