Maharashtra BoardEnglish MediumSTD 12 ScienceChemistryIonic Equilibria4 Marks
Question
What are the applications of a buffer solution ?
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Answer
Buffer solutions have many applications as follows: (1) In a biochemical system : Blood in our body has $pH 7.36-7.42$ due to $\left( HCO _3^{-}+ H _2 CO _3\right)$ and little change of $0.2 pH$ unit may be fatal. For example, saline solution used in intravenous injection contains a buffer solution maintaining $pH$ of the blood in the required range.
(2) Agriculture : The properties of soil depend upon its pH. The salts present in soil such as phosphates, carbonates, bicarbonates and organic acids impart definite pH to the soil. Depending on pH the fertilizers are selected.
(3) Industry : In many industries, buffer solutions are used to carry out chemical processes very effectively, such as the industries of paper, dye, paints, drugs, ink, etc.
(4) Medicines : Many medicines particularly in the liquid state have a good stability and optimum activity at a definite $pH$, for which buffer solutions are used. For example penciline preparations are carried out in the presence of a buffer of sodium citrate. A buffer solution of magnesium citrate is prepared by adding citric acid to $Mg ( OH )_2$.
(5) Analytical chemistry : In a qualitative analysis, the precipitation of groups, the chemical tests for detection of ions, etc. are carried out at a definite $pH$. For example, precipitation of cations of IIIA are carried in the presence of a basic buffer of $pH 8-10$ obtained by using $NH _4 OH$ and $NH _4 Cl$.
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