EXPERIMENT 1: PREPARATION OF BUFFER SOLUTION

1.0 ABSTRACT

Buffer solution is a solution that capable to resist the changes in pH when a small
quantities of acid or akali was added to it. There is two type of buffer solution, acidic buffer
solution and alkali buffer solution. The pH for acidic buffer solution is slightly lower than 7
usually 4.76 while for akali is slightly higher than 7 which usually is 9.25. As for this
experiment, there are two objective that need to be achieve. First is to prepare the buffer
solution and determination of the buffer solution characteristic. Second, to expose the effect of
pH of buffer solution when adding acidic or alkaline solution into the buffer solution. Chemical
that was used in this experiment were citric acid and sodium citrate for the preparation of buffer
solution and HCl and NaOH was used to test the pH value of the buffer solution. A preparation
of 250ml buffer solution was mix by using 91.58ml of citric acid and 158.42ml of sodium
citrate. The second part of the experiment, the buffer solution was separated into two beaker of
50ml containing 25ml of buffer solution. Then 1ml of HCl was added into beaker 1 while 1ml
of NaOH was added into another beaker. The pH of the buffer solution alone is 5.175 while
when HCl was added the pH was 4.92 and for NaOH added into the buffer solution, the pH
was 5.185. As shown in the Graph 1, the buffer solution pH only change slightly when adding
acid or alkaline solution into its compared to distilled water which change dramatically. This
is due to the proton (H+) from the acid binds to neutral water molecules to form H3O+ raising
the concentration of H+ while for the buffer solution, the change is too small because they
consist of weak acids and their conjugate bases to resist the change in pH value. As conclusion,
buffer solution tend to resist the change in pH when acidic or alkaline solution was added to
its.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

To prepare buffer solution and determine its characteristic

To study the effect of the adding 1ml of 1M hydrochloric acid and 1ml of 1M sodium
hydroxide to pH of buffer solution

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 EXPERIMENT 1: PREPARATION OF BUFFER SOLUTION

3.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Table 1: pH value measured for each solution

Solutions pH

1st reading 2nd reading Average

Buffer 5.15 5.20 5.175

Buffer + 1 ML HCL 4.95 4.89 4.920

Buffer + 1 ML NaOH 5.18 5.19 5.185

Distilled water 6.81 7.00 6.905

Distilled water + 1 ML HCL 1.99 2.06 2.025

Distilled water + 1 ML NaOH 10.75 11.05 10.90

Calculation for buffer solution:

Given;
pH = 5.0 pKa = 4.76
[𝐴− ]
pH = pKa + 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 [𝐻𝐴]

[𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒]
5.0 = 4.76 + 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 [𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑑]

[𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒]
0.24 = 𝑙𝑜𝑔10
[𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑑]

1.74[citrate] = [citric acid]

Total of solution: 1.74 + 1
= 2.74 ML
1
Citric acid needed: × 250 ML
2.74

= 91.24 ML
1.74
Citrate needed: × 250 ML
2.74
= 158.76 ML

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 EXPERIMENT 1: PREPARATION OF BUFFER SOLUTION

Graph 1: pH value before/after adding HCL and NaOH for buffer solution and distilled water

Preparation of buffer solution experiment was conducted to prepare buffer solution with
pH of 5.0 by using citric acid solution and sodium citrate solution, determining its
characteristics as well as to study the effect of adding hydrochloric acid (HCL) and sodium
hydroxide (NaOH) to pH of buffer solution and pure water.

In this experiment, a 250 ml buffer solution was prepared by adding 91.24 ml of 0.1M
citric acid solution and 158.76 ml of 0.1M sodium citrate solution. Its pH was measured by
using pH meter and the average reading is 5.175. The pH of buffer solution prepared is higher
than the expected pH. Supposedly, its pH is 5.0 as has been calculated earlier before the
experiment began. The difference occurred due to the volume of weak acid and conjugate base
that are not being measured accurately, the high pH reading is most probably because of an
excessive volume of sodium citrate solution. Other than that, the pH meter might be not
working properly which has disturbed the reading.

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 EXPERIMENT 1: PREPARATION OF BUFFER SOLUTION

On the other hand, the changes in pH resulting in the addition of 1ml of 1M HCL and
1ml of 1M NaOH to buffer solution and pure water are studied. The pH measured after adding
HCL and NaOH into buffer solution are 4.92 and 5.185 respectively. Somehow, the addition
has cause only a slight change to the pH of buffer solution. This is because the added HCL
react with weak acid as follows:
3HCl + Na3C6H5O7 ⇔C6H8O7 + 3NaCl
This reaction has converted HCL into a weak acid which introduces a much smaller disruption
in pH compare to strong acid, thus cause only a small change in pH of buffer solution. The
quite similar thing happens when NaOH was added. The acetic acid would react with NaOH
and converted it into a weak base that nearly would not rise the pH of the buffer solution. The
reaction is as follows:
NaOH + C2H3O2H ⇔NaC2H3O2 + H2O
This clearly shows that the buffer solution prepared is effective as it resists any changes in pH
when acids or bases are added to them as they consist of weak acids and their conjugate bases.
Meanwhile, there is a drastic change observed in pH of pure water when HCL and
NaOH were added. The pH of water is measured as 2.025 after the addition of HCL whereas,
the addition of NaOH change the water pH to 10.9. Adding a strong acid like HCL to water
caused a relatively high change. This is due to the proton (H+) from the acid binds to neutral
water molecules to form H3O+ raising the concentration of H+ ("pH in the Absence of a
Buffer", 2016). In other word, the pH of water drops significantly because a high concentration
of H+ cause the solution becoming more acidic. As for the addition of NaOH, the pH of water
has increased significantly due to a large concentration of OH- that has makes the water more
basic. This shows that pure water cannot resists any changes when either a strong acid or strong
base is added because it does not have any conjugate base nor weak acid to help it stabilise its
pH.
As a conclusion, this experiment has been conducted properly. All the objectives of the
experiment were achieved although there are a few errors has happened throughout the
experiment.

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 EXPERIMENT 1: PREPARATION OF BUFFER SOLUTION

4.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

As for the conclusions, buffer solution can be define as solution that resist changes in
pH upon addition of small amount of either acid or base or upon dilution. Buffer solution is a
mixture of weak acid and its conjugated base. Because the solution can absorb proton or release
proton, the buffer solution can maintain its pH or only gives slightly changes in its pH To
observe the buffer solution, its pH value was took initially. The pH of the buffer solution was
5.175. On the other hand, when HCL is added into the buffer solution, the pH is 4.92 which
only show small differences which is o.255. When NaOH was added to the buffer solution, the
pH also show small pH differences. The pH is 5.185 which is slightly higher from the pH of
the buffer solution. Although the addition of both strong acid and strong alkali result in pH
changes, but only small changes occur. This clearly shows that the buffer solution prepared is
effective as it resists any changes in pH when acids or bases are added to them as they consist
of weak acids and their conjugate bases. . From the result obtained, it can be observed that the
initial pH of distilled water is 6.905. This show that the distilled water has been well preserved.
When the strong acid, was added, the pH become drastically lower which is 2.025 which shows
that the distilled water has turn to be acidic due to its low pH. While, when distilled water has
been added with strong base, which is NaOH, the pH of the distilled water become higher with
value of 10.9. This show that the distilled water have become alkali. This shows that pure water
cannot resists any changes when either a strong acid or strong base is added because it does not
have any conjugate base nor weak acid to help it stabilize its pH. Overall, this experiment has
been conducted properly and the objectives of the experiment were achieved although there are
a few errors has happened throughout the experiment.

There are a few recommendation to make the experiment become better. One of the
recommendation that can be considered to improve the experiment is, before starting the
experiment, the apparatus and the pH electrode need to be clean up first, to ensure that there is
no contamination occur. Other than that, the deionized water should not be also exposed to air
in longer time to avoid the pH reading from the deionized water to become error. Also, when
preparing the buffer solution, the volume of both weak acid and conjugate base need to be
measure accurately to make sure that the desired pH of buffer solution is obtain.

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 EXPERIMENT 1: PREPARATION OF BUFFER SOLUTION

QUESTIONS

1. Explain the theory of pH measurement

- A pH measurement is a determination of the activity of hydrogen ions in an aqueous

solution. Many important properties of a solution can be determined from an
accurate measurement of pH, including the acidity of a solution and the extent of a
reaction in the solution. Many chemical processes and properties, such as the speed
of a reaction and the solubility of a compound, can be also depend greatly on the
pH of a solution. In applications ranging from industrial operations to biological
processes, it is important to have an accurate and precise measurement of pH. [3]

2. Define buffer capacity and the factors affecting the buffer capacity

- Buffer capacity is a measure of the efficiency of a buffer in resisting changes in pH.

Conventionally, the buffer capacity is expressed as the amount of strong acid or
base, in gram equivalents, that must be added to 1 litre of the solution to changes
its pH by one unit.
Buffer capacity depends on the concentrations of the components of the
buffer. The greater the concentrations of the conjugate acid-base pair, the greater
the buffer capacity.
A buffer consist of a solution of a weak acid (base) and the salt of weak acid
(base). The addition of either acid or base converts acid (base) to the acid (base)
salt, or the salt back to acid (base) when another acid or base is added to the solution.
If there is not enough buffer present compared to the added acid or base, the
buffer can be swamped, and the pH will changed significantly. So it is only partially
true that the buffer is independent of the buffer concentration. If the amount of acid
or base is added, is small compared to the buffer concentration then the pH will nit
sensitive to the amount of buffer present.
The buffer concentration must be sufficiently larger than the amount of acid
or base was being added.
The capacity of the buffer is determined by the actual amount of acid and
salt.[4]

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3. Discuss the importance of pH buffer in industrial system

- Buffers are of prime importance in different kind of industrial processes especially

in pharmaceuticals, fermentation/food and textile dyeing industries. It also finds its
role in many other industries as described below.
Importance of buffers in Pharmaceuticals Industries:
Most of the medicines are prepared in aqueous solution of different chemicals so
these aqueous solutions require a constant pH in order to assure the stability and
clinical effectiveness of a medicines and this is done through buffers. Buffers are
also added in pharmaceuticals to improve patient comfort and to make longer
transportation of medicines possible. Apart from this buffers are also used to:
· Maintain some drug or medicine in ionized form as ionized forms are more
soluble in aqueous solutions.
· Maintain some drug or medicine in un-ionized form as un-ionized forms are
more soluble in lipids.
· Maintain the stability of drugs in different aqueous solutions as many drugs
are vulnerable to hydrolysis of aqueous solutions.
· Maintain the pH of most of the drugs or medicine near to neutral otherwise
that specific drug or medicine may cause irritation in body tissues.
Importance of buffers in fermentation and food industry:
Each fermentation process requires a specific pH for the best results. The pH during
a fermentation process changes by itself due to fermentation process so to control
this pH change buffers play an important role. During fermentation of baking bread
the pH of the dough will decrease due to released carbon dioxide and other organic
acids. In dough flour and milk act as buffering agents and they resist the pH drop
due to the release of carbon dioxide. Apart from these natural buffers some chemical
buffers like calcium carbonate are also used to maintain pH during fermentation
process.
Buffers are also used in foods to maintain the acidity of the food in order to preserve
the flavor and appearance of food. Buffers maintain the physical, chemical and
microbiological stability of foods. Actually food additives act as buffers usually
consist of metal salts and weak acids found naturally within the food to be
preserved. For example, the addition of sodium citrate to a food containing citric
acid will create a buffer solution.
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 EXPERIMENT 1: PREPARATION OF BUFFER SOLUTION

Importance of buffers in dyeing industry:

Dyes in textile industries play an important role in giving color to different fabrics.
Color strength of dyes is closely related to narrow pH range which is maintained by
using different buffer systems. pH above or below this narrow range will affect the
color imparting ability of different dyes.
Importance of buffers in other miscellaneous industries:
Buffers of different types are majorly used in above explained three types of
industries. However, buffers also play an important role in:
· Printing industries as pH of paper and inks must be controlled to assure proper
penetration and drying of the ink.
· Electroplating industries as some alloys can be plated if very strict pH control
is maintained.
· Leather industries as narrow range of pH control of tanning and dyeing baths
determine the texture and color of the finished product.
· Glue and gelatin manufacturing industries as properties of gelatin and glue
vary rapidly with a very slight change in pH during manufacture. [5]

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5.0 REFERENCES

[1] Chemistry: Buffers. (2015). Infoplease.com. Retrieved 19 August 2017, from

https://www.infoplease.com/science/chemistry/chemistry-buffers

[2] pH in the Absence of a Buffer. (2016). Chemcollective.org. Retrieved 19 August

2017, from http://chemcollective.org/activities/tutorials/buffers/buffers2

[3] Introduction to pH measurement, 2015, National Instrument [Online] [Accessed

19th August 2017] Available from World Wide Web at: www.ni.com/white-
paper/2870/en/

[4] Buffer Capacity, 2014, Yahoo Answer [Online] [Accessed 19th August 2017]
Available from World Wide Web at: http://answer.yahoo.com/questions

[5] Important of buffer in industry system, 2012, Blogspot [Online] [Accessed 19th
August 2017] Available from World Wide Web at: environmental-
realm.blogspot.my/2012

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6.0 APPENDIX
Jotter Notes, raw data and sample of calculations.

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