Question

Which of the following buffer systems would be the best choice to create a buffer with pH 9.10?

Answer 1

Answer:

a) NH3/NH4Cl (pKa = 9.25)

b) $\frac{[Base]}{[Acid]} =0.708$

c)

Explanation:

Hello,

a) In this case, for a buffering capacity, if we want to select the best buffer, we should ensure that the buffer's pKa approaches the desired pH, therefore, since the buffer NH3/NH4Cl has a pKa of 9.25 that is very close to the desired pH of 9.10, we can pick it as the best choice.

b) In this case, we use the Henderson-Hasselbach equation in order to compute the molar ratio:

$pH=pKa+log(\frac{[Base]}{[Acid]} )\\\\log(\frac{[Base]}{[Acid]} )=9.10-9.25=-0.15\\\\\frac{[Base]}{[Acid]} =10^{-0.15}\\\\\frac{[Base]}{[Acid]} =0.708$

c) Finally, for the ratio of masses, we use the molar mass of both ammonia as the base (17 g/mol) and ammonium chloride as the acid (53.45 g/mol) to compute it, assuming 1.00 L as the volume of the solution:

$\frac{m_{Base}}{m_{Acid}} =0.708\frac{molBase}{molAcid}*\frac{17gBase}{1molBase} *\frac{1molAcid}{53.45gAcid}\\ \\\frac{m_{Base}}{m_{Acid}} =0.225$

Regards.