Buffer

From Anvita Health Wiki

Introduction

• A mixture of a weak acid & its conjugate base (salt) for example:
• H2CO3/ HCO3-
• H2PO4-/HPO4=

• when present in a solution reduces changes in pH that would occur when H+ or OH- is added to the solution. The buffering capacity is greatest at the of the acid when concentrations of the weak acid & its conjugate base are equal.

References

Stedman's Medical Dictionary 27th ed, Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, 1999

buffer