Akshay’s father had a tumour in his prostate gland. His doctor advised him to get it removed surgically. One side effect of the surgery was incontinence of urine, i.e., leakage of urine from the urinary bladder.
Why does the prostate gland produce an alkaline secretion?
Topic: Alkaline secretion of the prostate
Answer
To NEUTRALISE THE ACIDITY of the urethra (left acidic by urine) and of the vagina, so that the sperms are not killed and remain ACTIVE AND MOTILE.
Sperms are extremely sensitive to acid. They must pass through the urethra, which carries acidic urine, and then through the vagina, which is acidic (about pH 4) as a defence against infection. In either place an unprotected sperm would be immobilised or killed.
The prostate’s milky ALKALINE secretion buffers both, raising the pH enough for the sperms to survive and swim.
Two marks-worth of detail in one sentence: name BOTH places being neutralised (urethra and vagina) and state the PURPOSE (to keep the sperms alive and motile). An answer that says only "to make it alkaline" describes the secretion without explaining why.