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Hulanicki, A. Reaction of Acids and Bases in Analytical Chemistry. PWN & Ellis Horwood, 1987.

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Article

An Algebraic Derivation of Buffer Capacity

1Department of Chemistry, Cheyenne Mountain High School, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80906-1622 United States


World Journal of Chemical Education. 2015, Vol. 3 No. 5, 124-126
DOI: 10.12691/wjce-3-5-4
Copyright © 2015 Science and Education Publishing

Cite this paper:
Matthew S. Fox, Joshua W. Greenberg, Jake M. Trookman. An Algebraic Derivation of Buffer Capacity. World Journal of Chemical Education. 2015; 3(5):124-126. doi: 10.12691/wjce-3-5-4.

Correspondence to: Matthew  S. Fox, Department of Chemistry, Cheyenne Mountain High School, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80906-1622 United States. Email: matthew.2.fox@ucdenver.edu

Abstract

Acid-base chemistry is becoming evermore infamous amongst new chemistry students—especially specialized topics such as buffers and their capacities. Currently, introductory chemistry students struggle to fully understand the formal definition of buffer capacity. In this manuscript, we algebraically derive a new and simple mathematical representation for buffer capacity from the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation. We find that three buffer capacity formulas evolve—each with a specific application depending on the concentration-ratio of weak acid or base to its corresponding conjugate.

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