Question

What is the boiling point of milk?

Answer 1

Hint: The boiling point of a substance is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of a liquid equals the pressure surrounding the liquid and the liquid changes into a vapor. The boiling point of a liquid varies depending upon the surrounding environmental pressure.

Complete answer:
Milk is not a single compound rather it is a mixture of water, fats present in emulsion form and various proteins suspended in it. The exact composition of these various according to the type of milk. When milk is heated, the fat being lighter than water gets accumulated on the surface. Certain proteins also get accumulated on the surface. This layer is known as cream.
Since, the major content of milk is water (around $$90\mathrm{\%}$$), it should be around the boiling point of water. However, it will be above the boiling point of water as the fats present in milk will have a much higher boiling point than water. Since, these fats are present in very small quantities, it won’t increase the boiling point to a very high temperature rather it will only increase the temperature by a few decimal points.
The boiling point of milk is $${100.5}^{\circ }C$$.

Note:
The boiling point of might be different by a few decimal points. This difference is due to the difference in composition of water, fats and proteins present in it. As with water, the boiling point of milk is affected by atmospheric pressure, so the boiling point is highest at sea level and lower up on a mountain.