Importance of buffer solutions

Answer 1

Buffers or buffer solutions are aqueous solutions consisting of a mixture of a weak acid and its conjugate base or a weak base and its conjugate acid. It has the property that the pH of the solution changes very little when a small amount of strong acid or base is added to it. Buffer solutions are used as a means of keeping pH at a nearly constant value in a wide variety of chemical applications. Many life forms thrive only in a relatively small pH range; an example of a buffer solution is blood.

Answer 2

• Sometime buffer interfere with a reaction or with the assay method. ex:- A reaction that requires or produces Phosphate or Carbon dioxide may be inhibited if too much Phosphate or Carbon dioxide present in reaction mixture.
• Difficulty in isolating enzymes due to sensitiveness to high salt concentration. A buffer may cause precipitation of an enzyme or even of a metal that may be co-factor for the reaction.
• sometimes often desirable to use a buffer that has no biological activity at all. So it can never interfere with the system. ex:- TRIS buffer
• special buffers such as HEPES & PIPPES have been developed for growing cells in tissue culture,
• Buffer affect the spectropotometric determination of a colored assay product

Answer 3

The scope of buffers is to maintain the pH of a solution at a constant value.

Answer 4

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