A child was born alive but was killed by a man. He told the mother lat...
If a child is born alive then with its first cry, it breathes in air, thus its lungs contain air. A piece of lung that contains air will float in water. The floating of lung will confirm that the child was born alive and then was murdered.
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A child was born alive but was killed by a man. He told the mother lat...
**Explanation:**
The test performed by the medical expert involved taking a piece of lung from the child's body and placing it in water. Based on the outcome of the test, the expert could determine whether the child was born alive or stillborn.
The correct answer is option 'A', which states that the lung piece kept floating in water. This indicates that the child was born alive.
**Reasoning:**
When a child is born alive, their lungs are filled with air and are therefore buoyant. This allows the lungs to float in water. On the other hand, if a child is stillborn, their lungs are not filled with air, and the lung tissue would be denser, causing it to sink to the bottom of the water.
**Significance of the Test:**
The test performed by the medical expert is known as the "lung float test" or "hydrostatic test." It is commonly used in forensic pathology to determine whether a child was born alive or stillborn.
**Procedure:**
1. A small piece of lung tissue is taken from the child's body.
2. The lung tissue is placed in a container filled with water.
3. If the lung tissue floats on the surface of the water, it indicates that the child was born alive. This is because the air-filled lungs make the tissue buoyant.
4. If the lung tissue sinks to the bottom of the water, it suggests that the child was stillborn. This is because the lungs were not filled with air.
**Conclusion:**
In this case, the lung tissue from the child's body floated in water, indicating that the child was born alive. This contradicted the man's claim that the child was stillborn, confirming the suspicion of the mother and leading to a murder investigation. The post mortem report further confirmed that the child's death was indeed a result of murder.
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