General Veterinary Biochemistry

Buffer pair of acetic acid and sodium acetate

BUFFER PAIR

• Let us consider the buffer pair of acetic acid and sodium acetate.

• When an acid say HCL is added, the acetate ion of the buffer binds with H⁺ of HCL to form acetic acid, which is weakly ionized. Therefore the buffer resists the pH change due to acid.

• When a base say NaOH is added the H⁺ ions of the buffer acetic acid combines with OH^- ions to form  water, which is weakly ionized. Thus the pH change due to base addition is also prevented.