question_answer

  A milkman adds a very small amount of baking soda to fresh milk. (i) Why does he shift the pH of the fresh milk from 6 to slightly alkaline? (ii) Why does this milk take a long time to set as curd?                                                       [NCERT]

Answer:

                  (i) Milk is made slightly alkaline so that it may not get sour easily due to the formation of lactic acid in it. (ii) The alkaline milk takes a longer time to set into curd because the lactic acid formed has to first neutralize the alkali present in it.