Muscle physiologists study the accumulation of lactic acid [CH3CH(OH)COOH] during exercise. Food chemists study its occurrence i
n sour milk, beer, wine, and fruit. Industrial microbiologists study its formation by various bacterial species from carbohydrates. A biochemist prepares a lactic acid-lactate buffer by mixing 225 mL of 0.85 M lactic acid (Ka = 1.38 × 10−4) with 435 mL of 0.68 M sodium lactate. What is the buffer pH?
Not all molecules are compounds, since some molecules, such as oxygen gas (above image of molecule of-O2) or ozone (O3), consist only of one element or type of atom. Water is also a molecule because it is made from atoms that have been chemically combined.