yorkstanham said:
A buffer is a system composed of a weak base and its conjugate acid or a weak acid and its conjugate base. A buffer controls the alkalinity/aciditity of a solution and resists changes of pH with the addition of small amounts of acid or base.
A natural buffer system is the H2CO3/HCO3- buffer present in human blood. This buffer is responsible for the maintaining the blood pH level between 7.35 and 7.45, fluctuations out of this range can be life threatening. When acidosis occurs the equilibrium readjusts to minimise the change:
HCO3- + H+ --> H2CO3
When alkalosis occcurs the buffer once again minimises the change ensuring the health of the individual:
H2CO3 + OH- --> HCO3- + H2O
Next Q: Explain the differences in boiling and melting points between straight chained alkanoic acids, alkanols and alkanes.
Straight-chained alkanoic acids and alkanols have higher boiling and melting points than alkanes, since they have polar functional groups (such as -OH and C=O and COOH). As a result, these polar functional groups, molecules of alkanoic acids and alkanols are joined by intermolecular forces such as hydrogen bonding, permanent dipole-dipole forces, while molecules of alkanes are bonded simply by weaker dispersion forces. Hence, greater energy is required to break (for boiling pt) or weaken(for melting pt) intermolecular forces between molecules of alkanoic acids, and alkanols, in comparison to alkanes. Therefore, alkanoic acids and alkanols have higher bpts and mpts than alkanes.
Alkanoic acids contain an extra polar C=O (carbonyl) bond within their molecules, in addition to a polar hydroxy group, which is present in alkanols. As a result, alkanoic acids are slightly more polar than alkanols, thus leading to stronger permanent dipole-diple forces, and more extensive hydrogen bonding between molecules of alkanoic acids, than the intermolecular forces in alkanols. Hence, greater energy is required to weaken and break intermolecular forces in alkanoic acids, than in alkanols, hence the higher boiling and melting points in alkanoic acids, than alkanols.
Describe the recent discovery of a named transuranic element.