levo

Acids and Bases

Buffer Solutions

  • 3 things to know
  • Papers 1 and 3

Overview

What buffers are made from, how they resist pH change, and calculating the pH of one.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

What is a buffer solution?

Key term

What two components make up an acidic buffer solution?

Key term

What two components make up a basic buffer solution?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What is a buffer solution?

    Model answer

    A solution whose pH scarcely moves on dilution, or when a little acid or base is added.

  2. 2

    What two components make up an acidic buffer solution?

    Model answer

    A weak acid and the salt of that weak acid.

  3. 3

    What two components make up a basic buffer solution?

    Model answer

    A weak base and the salt of that weak base.

  4. 4

    How does an acidic buffer respond when a small amount of acid is added?

    Model answer

    The conjugate base from the salt reacts with the added H⁺ ions, removing them from solution.

  5. 5

    How does an acidic buffer respond when a small amount of base is added?

    Model answer

    The weak acid reacts with the added OH⁻ ions, neutralising them.

  6. 6

    Why does the pH of an acidic buffer remain approximately constant when small amounts of acid are added?

    Model answer

    The conjugate base (from the salt) is present in large excess and reacts with added H⁺ ions, so [H⁺] changes very little.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

Atomic Structure
Amount of Substance
Bonding
Energetics and Thermodynamics

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

A atom.
nitrogencarbonsulfur

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

AOxidation is the loss of electrons.
BReduction is the gain of electrons.
CAn oxidising agent is an electron acceptor.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

The sum of all mole fractions equals 1.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Acids and Bases, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.