Name: buffer capacity and ph stability
Uploaded: 2020-09-24T15:06:51.000Z
Duration: 2 min 19 s
Channel: JoVE

K12 Standards

ohios-learning-standards-and-model-curriculum

Ohio’s Learning Standards and Model Curriculum

9-12

Chemistry

Interactions Of Matter

Chemical reactions

Buffer Effectiveness

The effectiveness of any buffer to resist pH change depends upon the concentration ratio of the weak acid and its conjugate base, or weak base and its conjugate acid, as well as their absolute concentrations.
The buffer range is the pH range that inhibits a significant increase or decrease in the pH upon the addition of an acid or base. The range is one unit higher or lower than the pKa.
Therefore, to be an effective buffer, the ratio of weak acid to base or weak base to acid should be between 10 to 1 and 1 to 10.
The Henderson-Hasselbalch equation can be solved to support these values. If the acid&#8217;s concentration is ten times that of the base, the pH will be 1 unit less than the pKa. In contrast, if the base&#8217;s concentration is ten times that of the acid, the pH will be 1 unit more than the pKa.
A buffer is most effective in the middle of its buffer range when the concentration of the weak acid and conjugate base are equal, and the pH equals the pKa. As the difference between the amounts of the weak acid and base increases, the buffer becomes less effective.
Therefore, buffer A, containing 1 molar each of acetic acid and acetate, will be more effective than buffer B, containing 0.1 molar acetic acid and 1 molar acetate.
The absolute concentration of a weak acid and the base also determines the effectiveness of the buffer. The greater the concentration of the weak acid and base, the more strong acid or base it can neutralize.
Therefore, a buffer with 1 molar each of formic acid and formate is more effective than a buffer with 0.1 molar each.
Buffer capacity is the amount of a strong acid or base a buffer can neutralize before a significant change in its pH. Therefore, the buffer capacity increases both with higher concentrations of a weak acid and its conjugate base and when the ratio of a weak acid to the base approaches one.

buffer effectiveness

Buffer solutions do not have an unlimited capacity to keep the pH relatively constant . Instead, the ability of a buffer solution to resist changes in pH relies on the presence of appreciable amounts of its conjugate weak acid-base pair. When enough strong acid or base is added to substantially lower the concentration of either member of the buffer pair, the buffering action within the solution is compromised.
The buffer capacity is the amount of acid or base that can be added to a given volume of a buffer solution before the pH changes significantly, usually by one unit. Buffer capacity depends on the amounts of the weak acid and its conjugate base that are in a buffer mixture. For example, 1 L of a solution that is 1.0 M in acetic acid and 1.0 M in sodium acetate has a greater buffer capacity than 1 L of a solution that is 0.10 M in acetic acid and 0.10 M in sodium acetate even though both solutions have the same pH. The first solution has more buffer capacity because it contains more acetic acid and acetate ion.
Selection of Suitable Buffer Mixtures
There are two useful rules of thumb for selecting buffer mixtures:
<ol>
	<li>A good buffer mixture should have about equal concentrations of both of its components. A buffer solution has generally lost its usefulness when one component of the buffer pair is less than about 10% of the other.</li>
	<li>Weak acids and their salts are better as buffers for pHs less than 7; weak bases and their salts are better as buffers for pHs greater than 7.</li>
</ol>
Blood is an important example of a buffered solution, with the principal acid and ion responsible for the buffering action being carbonic acid, H2CO3, and the bicarbonate ion, HCO3&#8722;. When a hydronium ion is introduced to the bloodstream, it is removed primarily by the reaction:
<img alt="Lewis structure diagram of PF5 molecule illustrating electron arrangement and chemical bonds." src="/files/ftp_upload/11412/11412_Equation_1v2.png" style="text-align: center; height: 50px;" data-altupdatedat="1761830439000" data-alt="Eq1" />
An added hydroxide ion is removed by the reaction:
<img alt="Gas chromatography diagram showing equipment setup for compound separation and analysis." src="/files/ftp_upload/11412/11412_Equation_2.png" style="text-align: center; height: 50px;" data-altupdatedat="1761830439000" data-alt="Eq1" />
The added strong acid or base is thus effectively converted to the much weaker acid or base of the buffer pair (H3O+ is converted to H2CO3 and OH&#8722; is converted to HCO3&#8722;). The pH of human blood thus remains very near the value determined by the buffer pairs pKa, in this case, 7.35. Normal variations in blood pH are usually less than 0.1, and pH changes of 0.4 or greater are likely to be fatal.
This text is adapted from<a href="https://openstax.org/books/chemistry-2e/pages/14-6-buffers"> Openstax, Chemistry 2e, Section 14.6: Buffers</a>.

Buffer solutions do not have an unlimited capacity to keep the pH relatively constant . Instead, the ability of a buffer solution to resist changes in pH ...

Education

JoVE Core

Acid-base and Solubility Equilibria

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

buffer capacity and ph stability

Buffer solutions help keep pH fairly constant, but they do not work forever. Their resistance to pH change depends on having enough of a weak acid and its conjugate base, or a weak base and its conjugate acid, in the mixture. When too much strong acid or strong base is added, one part of the buffer pair is used up and the buffer action becomes weaker.

Buffer capacity describes how much acid or base can be added to a fixed volume of buffer before the pH changes noticeably, usually by about one pH unit. Capacity depends on the amount of weak acid and conjugate base present. A 1.0 M acetic acid and 1.0 M sodium acetate solution has a greater buffer capacity than a 0.10 M acetic acid and 0.10 M sodium acetate solution, even though both have the same pH. The more buffer components present, the more acid or base the solution can handle.

Good buffer mixtures usually have similar concentrations of both components. A buffer often stops being useful when one component falls below about 10% of the other. Weak acids and their salts work best for buffers with pH values below 7. Weak bases and their salts work best for buffers with pH values above 7.

Blood is a key example of a buffered solution. Its main buffering pair is carbonic acid, H2CO3, and bicarbonate ion, HCO3−. When hydronium ion enters the bloodstream, it is removed by reaction with bicarbonate. When hydroxide ion is added, it is removed by reaction with carbonic acid. In both cases, the strong acid or base is turned into the weaker member of the buffer pair.

This buffering keeps human blood near a pH of 7.35, which matches the pKa of the buffer pair. Normal blood pH changes are usually less than 0.1. A change of 0.4 or more can be fatal, which shows why buffer systems are so important in living things.

Buffer Capacity and pH Stability

common ion effect

Common Ion Effect on Solubility

The common ion effect reduces the solubility of an ionic compound in a solution that already contains one of its ions. In aqueous solutions, this means less of the solid dissolves than it would in pure water. The effect follows the law of mass action and can be explained with Le Châtelier’s principle. Silver iodide shows this equilibrium clearly. When silver(I) ions or iodide ions are added, the dissolution equilibrium shifts left. More AgI precipitates, and the concentrations of dissolved Ag+...

buffers

Buffer Solutions and pH Stability

Buffer solutions are mixtures that help keep pH steady. A buffer contains an appreciable amount of a weak conjugate acid-base pair. It resists a change in pH when small amounts of a strong acid or a strong base are added. One common buffer uses a weak acid and its salt. Acetic acid and sodium acetate form this type of system, written as CH3COOH(aq) + CH3COONa(aq). Another buffer uses a weak base and its salt. A solution of ammonia and ammonium chloride, NH3(aq) + NH4Cl(aq), is an example. The...

calculating ph changes in a buffer solution

calculating-ph-changes-in-a-buffer-solution

Buffer pH After Acid or Base Addition

A buffer solution can resist sudden pH changes when a strong acid or strong base is added. It does not stop the pH from changing completely. The shift is usually small, as long as the addition stays within the buffer’s capacity. To find the new pH, first determine how the added acid or base changes the amounts of the buffer components. A buffer contains a weak acid and its conjugate base, or the reverse pair. These amounts are found with stoichiometric calculations, which track how much of...

Buffer solutions help keep pH fairly constant, but they do not work forever. Their resistance to pH change depends on having enough of a weak acid and its conjugate base, or a weak base and its conjugate acid, in the mixture. When too much strong acid or strong base is added, one part of the buffer pair is used up and the buffer action becomes weaker. Buffer capacity describes how much acid or base can be added to a fixed volume of buffer before the pH changes noticeably, usually by about one...

titration calculations: strong acid - strong base

titration-calculations-strong-acid-strong-base

pH at Key Points in Acid-Base Titration

pH at key points in a strong acid and strong base titration can be calculated from the amounts of acid and base present. The example uses 25.00 mL of 0.100 M HCl, a strong acid, and 0.100 M NaOH, a strong base. The pH changes as base is added, and each stage follows a different calculation. At 0 mL of titrant, the pH comes from the ionization of HCl. Because HCl is a strong acid, its ionization is complete. The hydronium ion molarity is 0.100 M, and the pH is found from that value. At 12.50...

titration calculations: weak acid - strong base

titration-calculations-weak-acid-strong-base

pH at Key Points in a Weak Acid Titration

pH at key points in a weak acid titration can be calculated for an acetic acid solution as sodium hydroxide is added. The example uses 25.00 mL of 0.100 M CH3CO2H titrated with 0.100 M NaOH. The reaction is shown as the weak acid reacts with the strong base. The initial pH is found from the acetic acid solution using the usual ICE approach. ICE means initial, change, and equilibrium, and it is a common way to set up equilibrium problems. The solution pH is calculated before any titrant is...

indicators

Acid-Base Color Changes

Acid-base indicators show color changes that help identify the pH of a solution. These are often weak organic acids or weak organic bases, and they respond to changes in hydronium ion concentration in dilute aqueous solution. Phenolphthalein is one example. It is colorless when the hydronium ion concentration is greater than 5.0 × 10^-9 M, which means the pH is below 8.3. In more basic solutions, where the hydronium ion concentration is lower, it turns red or pink. Methyl orange shows how an...

titration of a polyprotic acid

Polyprotic Acid Equivalence Points

Polyprotic acids have more than one ionizable hydrogen, so they lose protons in steps during titration. When the acid dissociation constants for those protons are far enough apart, the titration curve shows a separate equivalence point for each hydrogen that can ionize. Diprotic acids have two ionizable hydrogens and produce two equivalence points. Triprotic acids have three ionizable hydrogens and produce three equivalence points. Carbonic acid, H2CO3, is a weak diprotic acid. Carbonic acid...

solubility equilibria

Predicting Precipitation with Ksp

Solubility equilibria explain how a dissolved ionic compound and its solid form can exist in balance. In a saturated solution, the solute dissolves and the ions precipitate at equal rates. These ideas matter in real settings such as tooth decay and water purification, where compound solubility affects the outcome. A substance with finite solubility can form a saturated solution when more solute is added than the solvent can dissolve. The result is a heterogeneous mixture of the saturated...

factors affecting solubility

Common Ion Effects on Solubility

The common ion effect lowers the solubility of an ionic compound in water when the solution already contains one of the ions made by that compound. It follows the law of mass action and can be explained with Le Châtelier’s principle. When a common ion is added, the dissolution equilibrium shifts toward the solid, so less of the salt stays dissolved. Silver iodide shows this effect clearly. If silver ions or iodide ions are added to a solution of AgI, the equilibrium shifts left and more AgI...

formation of complex ions

Ligands and Complex Ion Stability

Complex ions form when a central atom, often a transition metal cation, binds to ligands. Ligands are ions or molecules around the metal ion. They can be neutral molecules such as H2O or NH3, or ions such as CN− or OH−. In many cases, the ligands act as Lewis bases by donating a pair of electrons to the central atom. These reactions are part of coordination chemistry, which studies coordination complexes. When a metal ion reacts with one or more ligands to form a complex, the equilibrium...

precipitation of ions

Solubility Limits and Selective Precipitation

Solubility limits and selective precipitation explain when ions form a solid in water. The key idea is the balance between an insoluble compound and its dissolved ions. In aqueous solutions that contain calcium ions and carbonate ions, this equilibrium can exist even if the solution was not made by saturating water with calcium carbonate. When two soluble salts are mixed, such as sodium carbonate and calcium nitrate, the ion concentrations determine whether a precipitate forms. If the reaction...

qualitative analysis

Cation Identification by Precipitation Tests

Cation identification by precipitation tests uses selective reactions to find metal ions in a mixture. In qualitative analysis, different reagents are added step by step. Each reaction can produce a characteristic precipitate for a specific group of cations. Other steps, such as changing pH, heating the mixture to dissolve a precipitate again, or adding reagents that form complex ions, help separate ions within the same group. Group IV cations such as Ba2+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ are identified...

acid-base titration curves

Tracking pH During Acid-Base Titration

Acid-base titration uses pH changes to track how a solution responds as titrant is added. A titration curve is a graph of a solution property versus the amount of added titrant. In acid-base titrations, pH is the main property to follow because it changes in a predictable way with the solution makeup and helps show the endpoint. This pattern can be seen with a strong acid and strong base, a strong acid and weak base, or a strong base and weak acid. For example, 25.00 mL of 0.100 M HCl titrated...

henderson-hasselbalch equation

Buffer pH with the Henderson-Hasselbalch Equation

The Henderson-Hasselbalch equation helps relate buffer pH to the weak acid in the solution. It comes from the ionization-constant expression for a weak acid. By rearranging that expression to solve for hydronium ion concentration, [H3O+], and then taking the negative logarithm of both sides, the equation can be written in terms of pH. In this form, pKa is defined as the negative logarithm of the weak acid ionization constant, or pKa = −log Ka. The equation shows the connection between pH, pKa,...

key terms and concepts

Learn how buffer capacity depends on weak acid-conjugate base amounts, why buffer mixtures work best near equal parts, and how blood resists pH change.

Buffer Capacity and pH Stability | JoVE K12

chemistry

JoVE Core Chemistry brings general chemistry concepts to life using concise and easy-to-understand animated video lessons. Plus, in the scientist-in-action videos, we demonstrate classical and original research experiments performed in today's laboratories worldwide.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills

High School

CHEM.12

CHEM.12.E

Chemical Equations

Chemical equations represent the identities and relative quantities of substances involved in a chemical reaction. The substances undergoing reaction are ...

Reaction Stoichiometry

A balanced chemical equation provides a great deal of information in a very succinct format. Chemical formulas provide the identities of the reactants and ...

Limiting Reactant

The relative amounts of reactants and products represented in a balanced chemical equation are often referred to as stoichiometric amounts. However, in ...

Reaction Yield

The theoretical yield of a reaction is the amount of product estimated to form based on the stoichiometry of the balanced chemical equation. The ...

Chemical Reactions in Aqueous Solutions

Chemical substances interact in many different ways. Certain chemical reactions exhibit common patterns of reactivity. Due to the vast number of chemical ...

Precipitation Reactions

In a precipitation reaction, aqueous solutions of soluble salts react to give an insoluble ionic compound &#x2013; the precipitate. The reaction occurs ...

Oxidation-Reduction Reactions

Oxidation&ndash;Reduction Reactions

Earth&rsquo;s atmosphere contains about 20% molecular oxygen, O2, a chemically reactive gas that plays an essential ...

Oxidation Numbers

In redox reactions, the transfer of electrons occurs between reacting species. Electron transfer is described by a hypothetical number called the ...

Acids, Bases and Neutralization Reactions

An acid-base reaction is one in which a hydrogen ion, H+, is transferred from one chemical species to another. Such reactions are of central importance to ...

Synthesis and Decomposition Reactions

Synthesis and decomposition are two types of redox reactions. Synthesis means to make something, whereas decomposition means to break something. The ...

Reaction Rate

The rate of reaction is the change in the amount of a reactant or product per unit time. Reaction rates are therefore determined by measuring the time ...

Measuring Reaction Rates

Polarimetry finds application in chemical kinetics to measure the concentration and reaction kinetics of optically active substances during a chemical ...

Concentration and Rate Law

The rate of a reaction is affected by the concentrations of reactants. Rate laws (differential rate laws) or rate equations are mathematical expressions ...

Determining Order of Reaction

Rate laws describe the relationship between the rate of a chemical reaction and the concentration of its reactants. In a rate law, the rate constant k and ...

the-integrated-rate-law-the-dependence-of-concentration-on-time

The Integrated Rate Law: The Dependence of Concentration on Time

While the differential rate law relates the rate and concentrations of reactants, a second form of rate law called the integrated rate law relates ...

Half-life of a Reaction

The half-life of a reaction (t1/2) is the time required for one-half of a given amount of reactant to be consumed. In each succeeding half-life, half of ...

Temperature Dependence on Reaction Rate

The Collision Theory
Atoms, molecules, or ions must collide before they can react with each other. Atoms must be close together to form chemical bonds. ...

Arrhenius Plots

The Arrhenius equation relates the activation energy and the rate constant, k, for chemical reactions. In the Arrhenius equation, k = Ae&#8722;Ea/RT, R is ...

Reaction Mechanisms

Chemical reactions often occur in a stepwise fashion, involving two or more distinct reactions taking place in a sequence. A balanced equation indicates ...

Thermochemical Equations

For a chemical reaction (the system) carried out at constant pressure &ndash; with the only work done caused by expansion or contraction &ndash; the ...

Rate-Determining Steps

Relating Reaction Mechanisms
In a multistep reaction mechanism, one of the elementary steps progresses significantly slower than the others. This slowest ...

Constant Pressure Calorimetry

Calorimetry is a technique used to measure the amount of heat involved in a chemical or physical process or to measure the heat transferred to or from a ...

Catalysis

The presence of a catalyst affects the rate of a chemical reaction. A catalyst is a substance that can increase the reaction rate without being consumed ...

Constant Volume Calorimetry

Calorimeters are useful to determine the heat released or absorbed by a chemical reaction. Coffee cup calorimeters are designed to operate at constant ...

Enzymes

Inside living organisms, enzymes act as catalysts for many biochemical reactions involved in cellular metabolism. The role of enzymes is to reduce the ...

Hess's Law

There are two ways to determine the amount of heat involved in a chemical change: measure it experimentally, or calculate it from other experimentally ...

Energy Basics

Chemical reactions, such as those that occur when you light a match, involve changes in energy as well as matter.

Chemical changes and their accompanying ...

Standard Enthalpy of Formation

Enthalpy changes are typically tabulated for reactions in which both the reactants and products are at the same conditions. A standard state is a commonly ...

First Law of Thermodynamics

Energy Conservation

Energy can be converted from one form into another, but all of the energy present before a change occurs always exists in some form ...

Enthalpies of Reaction

Hess&rsquo;s law can be used to determine the enthalpy change of any reaction if the corresponding enthalpies of formation of the reactants and products ...

Internal Energy

The total of all possible kinds of energy present in a substance is called the internal energy (U), sometimes symbolized as E. Suppose a system with ...

Dynamic Equilibrium

A reversible chemical reaction represents a chemical process that proceeds in both forward (left to right) and reverse (right to left) directions. When ...

Quantifying Heat

Thermal Energy&#160;

Microscopically, thermal energy is the kinetic energy associated with the random motion of atoms and molecules. Temperature is a ...

The Equilibrium Constant

Consider the oxidation of sulfur dioxide:

For a reaction that begins with a mixture of reactants only, the product concentration is initially equal to ...

Quantifying Work

As a system undergoes a change, its internal energy can change, and energy can be transferred from the system to the surroundings, or from the ...

homogeneous-equilibria-for-gaseous-reactions

Homogeneous Equilibria for Gaseous Reactions

Homogeneous Equilibria for Gaseous Reactions
For gas-phase reactions, the equilibrium constant may be expressed in terms of either the molar ...

Enthalpy

Chemists ordinarily use a property known as enthalpy (H) to describe the thermodynamics of chemical and physical processes. Enthalpy is defined as the sum ...

Calculating the Equilibrium Constant

The equilibrium constant for a reaction is calculated from the equilibrium concentrations (or pressures) of its reactants and products. If these ...

Reaction Quotient

The status of a reversible reaction is conveniently assessed by evaluating its reaction quotient (Q). For a reversible reaction described by m A + n B ...

relative-strengths-of-conjugate-acid-base-pairs

Relative Strengths of Conjugate Acid-Base Pairs

Br&#248;nsted-Lowry acid-base chemistry is the transfer of protons; thus, logic suggests a relation between the relative strengths of conjugate acid-base ...

Calculating Equilibrium Concentrations

Being able to calculate equilibrium concentrations is essential to many areas of science and technology&#8212;for example, in the formulation and dosing ...

Strong Acid and Base Solutions

A strong acid is a compound that dissociates completely in an aqueous solution and produces a concentration of hydronium ions equal to the initial ...

The Small x Assumption

If a reaction has a small equilibrium constant, the equilibrium position favors the reactants. In such reactions, a negligible change in concentration may ...

Weak Acid Solutions

Few compounds act as strong acids. A far greater number of compounds behave as weak acids and only partially react with water, leaving a large majority of ...

le-chatelier-s-principle-changing-concentration

Le Chatelier's Principle: Changing Concentration

A system at equilibrium is in a state of dynamic balance, with forward and reverse reactions taking place at equal rates. If an equilibrium system is ...

Weak Base Solutions

Some compounds produce hydroxide ions when dissolved by chemically reacting with water molecules. In all cases, these compounds react only partially and ...

le-chatelier-s-principle-changing-volume-pressure

Le Chatelier's Principle: Changing Volume (Pressure)

For gas-phase equilibria, changes in the concentrations of reactants and products can occur with altered volume and pressure. The partial pressure, P, of ...

Mixtures of Acids

The pH of a solution containing an acid can be determined using its acid dissociation constant and its initial concentration. If a solution contains two ...

le-chatelier-s-principle-changing-temperature

Le Chatelier's Principle: Changing Temperature

Consistent with the law of mass action, an equilibrium stressed by a change in concentration will shift to re-establish equilibrium without any change in ...

Ions as Acids and Bases

Salts with Acidic Ions
Salts are ionic compounds composed of cations and anions, either of which may be capable of undergoing an acid or base ionization ...

Bronsted-Lowry Acids and Bases

The acid-base reaction class has been studied for quite some time. In 1680, Robert Boyle reported traits of acid solutions that included their ability to ...

Determining the pH of Salt Solutions

The pH of a salt solution is determined by its component anions and cations. Salts that contain pH-neutral anions and the hydronium ion-producing cations ...

acidbase-strengths-and-dissociation-constants

Acid/Base Strengths and Dissociation Constants

The relative strength of an acid or base is the extent to which it ionizes when dissolved in water. If the ionization reaction is essentially complete, ...

Polyprotic Acids

Acids are classified by the number of protons per molecule that they can give up in a reaction. Acids such as HCl, HNO3, and HCN that contain one ...

Water: A Bronsted-Lowry Acid and Base

The reaction between a Br&#248;nsted-Lowry acid and water is called acid ionization. For example, when hydrogen fluoride dissolves in water and ionizes, ...

Acid Strength and Molecular Structure

Binary Acids and Bases
In the absence of any leveling effect, the acid strength of binary compounds of hydrogen with nonmetals (A) increases as the H-A ...

pH Scale

Hydronium and hydroxide ions are present both in pure water and in all aqueous solutions, and their concentrations are inversely proportional as ...

Lewis Acids and Bases

In 1923, G. N. Lewis proposed a generalized definition of acid-base behavior in which acids and bases are identified by their ability to accept or to ...

Common Ion Effect

Compared with pure water, the solubility of an ionic compound is less in aqueous solutions containing a common ion (one also produced by dissolution of ...

Solubility Equilibria

Solubility equilibria are established when the dissolution and precipitation of a solute species occur at equal rates. These equilibria underlie many ...

Chemical reactions
• Types of reactions
• Kinetics
• Energy
• Equilibrium
• Acids/bases

Content elaboration: In the Physical Science course, coefficients were used to balance simple equations. Other representations, including Lewis structures and three-dimensional models, were also used and manipulated to demonstrate the conservation of matter in chemical reactions. In this course, more complex reactions will be studied, classified and represented with balanced chemical equations and three-dimensional models. Classifying reactions into types can be a helpful organizational tool for recognizing patterns of what may happen when two substances are mixed. Teachers should be aware that the common reaction classifications that are often used in high school chemistry courses may lead to misconceptions because they are not based on the actual chemistry, but on surface features that can be similar from one system to another (e.g., exchanging partners), even though the underlying chemistry is not the same. However, these classifications may be useful in making predictions about what happens when two substances are mixed. Some general types of chemical reactions are oxidation/reduction, synthesis, decomposition, single replacement, double replacement (including precipitation reactions and some acid-base neutralizations) and combustion reactions. Some reactions can fit into more than one category. For example, a single replacement reaction can also be classified as an oxidation/reduction reaction. Identification of reactions involving oxidation and reduction as well as indicating what substance is being oxidized and what is being reduced are appropriate in this course. However, balancing complex oxidation/reduction reactions is reserved for more advanced study. Organic molecules release energy when undergoing combustion reactions and are used to meet the energy needs of society (e.g., oil, gasoline, natural gas) and to provide the energy needs of biological organisms (e.g., cellular respiration). When a reaction between two ionic compounds in aqueous solution results in the formation of a precipitate or molecular compound, the reaction often occurs because the new ionic or covalent bonds are stronger than the original ion-dipole interactions of the ions in solution. Laboratory experiences (3-D or virtual) with different types of chemical reactions should be provided. Reactions occur when reacting particles collide in an appropriate orientation and with sufficient energy. The rate of a chemical reaction is the change in the amount of the reactants or products in a specific period of time. Increasing the probability or effectiveness of the collisions between the particles increases the rate of the reaction. Therefore, changing the concentration of the reactants, changing the temperature or the pressure of gaseous reactants, or using a catalyst, can change the reaction rate. Likewise, the collision theory can be applied to dissolving solids in a liquid solvent and can be used to explain why reactions are more likely to occur between reactants in the aqueous or gaseous state than between solids. The rate at which a substance dissolves should not be confused with the amount of solute that can dissolve in a given amount of solvent (solubility). Mathematical treatment of reaction rates is reserved for more advanced study. Computer simulations can help visualize reactions from the perspective of the kinetic-molecular theory. In middle school, the differences between potential and kinetic energy and the particle nature of thermal energy were introduced. For chemical systems, potential energy is in the form of chemical energy and kinetic energy is in the form of thermal energy. The total amount of chemical energy and/or thermal energy in a system is impossible to measure. However, the energy change of a system can be calculated from measurements (mass and change in temperature) from calorimetry experiments in the laboratory. Conservation of energy is an important component of calorimetry equations. Thermal energy is the energy of a system due to the movement of its particles. The thermal energy of an object depends upon the temperature and chemical composition. Some materials require little energy to change their temperature and other materials require a great deal to change their temperature by the same amount. Specific heat is a measure of how much energy is needed to change the temperature of a specific mass of material a specific amount. Specific heat values can be used to calculate the thermal energy change, the temperature (initial, final or change in) or mass of a material in calorimetry. Water has a particularly high specific heat capacity, which is important in regulating Earth's temperature. As studied in middle school, chemical energy is the potential energy associated with chemical systems. Chemical reactions involve valence electrons forming bonds to yield more stable products with lower energies. Energy is required to break interactions and bonds between the reactant atoms and energy is released when an interaction or bond is formed between the atoms in the products. Molecules with weak bonds (e.g., ATP) are less stable and tend to react to produce more stable products, releasing energy in the process. Generally, energy is transferred out of the system (exothermic) when the products have stronger bonds than the reactants and is transferred into the system (endothermic) when the reactants have stronger bonds than the products. Predictions of the energy requirements (endothermic or exothermic) of a reaction can be made given a table of bond energies. Graphic representations can be drawn and interpreted to represent the energy changes during a reaction. The role of energy in determining the spontaneity of chemical reactions is dealt with conceptually in this course. Entropy and its influence on the spontaneity of reactions are reserved for more advanced study. All reactions are reversible to a degree and many reactions do not proceed completely toward products but appear to stop progressing before the reactants are all used up. At this point, the amounts of the reactants and the products appear to be constant and the reaction can be said to have reached dynamic equilibrium. Dynamic equilibrium means the rate of the reverse reaction is equal to the rate of the forward reaction so there is no apparent change in the reaction. If a chemical system at equilibrium is disturbed by a change in the conditions of the system (e.g., increase or decrease in the temperature, pressure on gaseous equilibrium systems, concentration of a reactant or product), then the equilibrium system will respond by shifting to a new equilibrium state, reducing the effect of the change (Le Chatelier's Principle). If products are removed as they are formed during a reaction, then the equilibrium position of the system is forced to shift to favor the products. In this way, an otherwise unfavorable reaction can be made to occur. Mathematical treatment of equilibrium reactions is reserved for advanced study. Computer simulations can help visualize the progression of a reaction to dynamic equilibrium and the continuation of both the forward and reverse reactions after equilibrium has been attained. Properties of acids and bases and the ranges of the pH scale were introduced in Physical Science. In this course, the structural features of molecules are explored to further understand acids and bases. Acids often result when hydrogen is covalently bonded to an electronegative element and is easily dissociated from the rest of the molecule to bind with water to form a hydronium ion (H3O+). The acidity of an aqueous solution can be expressed as pH, where pH can be calculated from the concentration of the hydronium ion. Bases are likely to dissociate in water to form a hydroxide ion. Acids can react with bases to form a salt and water. Such neutralization reactions can be studied quantitatively by performing titration experiments.

Buffer Capacity and pH Stability

Description

Transcript

Tags

More videos by Standards