General Veterinary Biochemistry

Factors determine the effectiveness of buffer

FACTORS DETERMINING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF BUFFER

• Two factors determine the effectiveness of buffer
  • Its pKa relative to pH of the solution
  • Concentration
• A buffer works best within 1 pH unit above or below its pKa
• A buffer is more effective the more concentrated it is. Because the more concentrated solution contains more buffer molecules
• A 1M solution of a given buffer has 1 million times more buffering molecules than 1 µm solution
• Buffering capacity is the efficiency of the buffer solution to resists the change in pH when acid or base is added. It is the number of gram equivalents of either hydrogen ion or hydroxyl ion required to change the pH of 1L of 1M solutions by 1 unit
• Greater the buffering capacity, the less the change of pH