Lecture

Buffer Solutions: pH Calculations

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In course

CH-160(b): General chemistry

Cet enseignement vise l'acquisition des notions essentielles relatives à la structure de la matière, aux équilibres et à la réactivité chimiques. Le cours et les exercices fournissent la méthodologie permettant de résoudre par le raisonnement et le calcul ...

Description

This lecture covers the concept of buffer solutions, focusing on the pH calculations when adding acids or bases. It explains the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation and the role of weak acids and bases in maintaining pH. Through exercises, the instructor demonstrates how to determine the pH of buffer solutions after the addition of strong acids or bases.

Instructor

Samuel Terrettaz

Teaching & PhD Courses Advanced general chemistry CH-160(f) This course aims at the acquisition of essential notions on the structure of matter, chemical equilibria and reactivity. Theoretical teaching and exercise provide the methodology to analyze and solve by reasoning and calculation novel problems of general chemistry. Advanced general chemistry CH-160(g) This course aims at the acquisition of essential notions on the structure of matter, chemical equilibria and reactivi

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Chemistry

Inorganic chemistry: Topics in inorganic chemistry

Related concepts (31)

Acid–base reaction

An acid–base reaction is a chemical reaction that occurs between an acid and a base. It can be used to determine pH via titration. Several theoretical frameworks provide alternative conceptions of the reaction mechanisms and their application in solving related problems; these are called the acid–base theories, for example, Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory. Their importance becomes apparent in analyzing acid–base reactions for gaseous or liquid species, or when acid or base character may be somewhat less apparent.

Lewis acids and bases

A Lewis acid (named for the American physical chemist Gilbert N. Lewis) is a chemical species that contains an empty orbital which is capable of accepting an electron pair from a Lewis base to form a Lewis adduct. A Lewis base, then, is any species that has a filled orbital containing an electron pair which is not involved in bonding but may form a dative bond with a Lewis acid to form a Lewis adduct. For example, NH3 is a Lewis base, because it can donate its lone pair of electrons.

Acid

An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. hydrogen ion, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis acid. The first category of acids are the proton donors, or Brønsted–Lowry acids. In the special case of aqueous solutions, proton donors form the hydronium ion H3O+ and are known as Arrhenius acids. Brønsted and Lowry generalized the Arrhenius theory to include non-aqueous solvents.

Acid strength

Acid strength is the tendency of an acid, symbolised by the chemical formula HA, to dissociate into a proton, H+, and an anion, A-. The dissociation of a strong acid in solution is effectively complete, except in its most concentrated solutions. HA -> H+ + A- Examples of strong acids are hydrochloric acid (HCl), perchloric acid (HClO4), nitric acid (HNO3) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4). A weak acid is only partially dissociated, with both the undissociated acid and its dissociation products being present, in solution, in equilibrium with each other.

Buffer solution

A buffer solution (more precisely, pH buffer or hydrogen ion buffer) is an acid or a base aqueous solution consisting of a mixture of a weak acid and its conjugate base, or vice versa. Its pH changes very little when a small amount of strong acid or base is added to it. Buffer solutions are used as a means of keeping pH at a nearly constant value in a wide variety of chemical applications. In nature, there are many living systems that use buffering for pH regulation.

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