What factors determine the buffering

capacity of a solution?
In: Chemistry [Edit categories]

The concentration of the buffer (the higher the concentration, the larger the buffering
capacity) and how close the pKa of the buffer is compared to the pH of the solution (the
closer the greater the buffer capacity).

34 Buffering Capacity (KH, Alkalinity)

Buffering capacity refers to water's ability to keep the pH stable as

acids or bases are added. pH and buffering capacity are intertwined
with one another; although one might think that adding equal volumes
of an acid and neutral water would result in a pH halfway in between,
this rarely happens in practice. If the water has sufficient buffering
capacity, the buffering capacity can absorb and neutralize the added
acid without significantly changing the pH. Conceptually, a buffer
acts somewhat like a large sponge. As more acid is added, the
``sponge'' absorbs the acid without changing the pH much. The
``sponge's'' capacity is limited however; once the buffering capacity
is used up, the pH changes more rapidly as acids are added.

Buffering has both positive and negative consequences. On the plus

side, the nitrogen cycle produces nitric acid (nitrate). Without
buffering, your tank's pH would drop over time (a bad thing). With
sufficient buffering, the pH stays stable (a good thing). On the
negative side, hard tap water often almost always has a large
buffering capacity. If the pH of the water is too high for your fish,
the buffering capacity makes it difficult to lower the pH to a more
appropriate value. Naive attempts to change the pH of water usually
fail because buffering effects are ignored.

In freshwater aquariums, most of water's buffering capacity is due to

carbonates and bicarbonates. Thus, the terms ``carbonate hardness''
(KH), ``alkalinity'' and ``buffering capacity'' are used
interchangeably. Although technically not the same things, they are
equivalent in practice in the context of fishkeeping. Note: the term
``alkalinity'' should not be confused with the term ``alkaline''.
Alkalinity refers to buffering, while alkaline refers to a solution
that is a base (i.e., pH > 7).

How much buffering does your tank need? Most aquarium buffering
capacity test kits actually measure KH. The larger the KH, the more
resistant to pH changes your water will be. A tank's KH should be high
enough to prevent large pH swings in your tank over time. If your KH
is below roughly 4.5 dH, you should pay special attention to your
tank's pH (e.g, test weekly, until you get a feel for how stable the
pH is). This is ESPECIALLY important if you neglect to do frequent
partial water changes. In particular, the nitrogen cycle creates a
tendency for an established tank's pH to decrease over time. The exact
amount of pH change depends on the quantity and rate of nitrates
produced, as well as the KH. If your pH drops more than roughly two
tenths of a point over a month, you should consider increasing the KH
or performing partial water changes more frequently. KH doesn't affect
fish directly, so there is no need to match fish species to a
particular KH.

Note: it is not a good idea to use distilled water in your tank. By

definition, distilled water has essentially no KH. That means that
adding even a little bit of acid will change the pH significantly
(stressing fish). Because of its instability, distilled (or any
essentially pure water) is never used directly. Tap water or other
salts must first be added to it in order to increase its GH and KH.

pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of a solution. It is defined as the cologarithm of

the activity of dissolved hydrogen ions (H+). Hydrogen ion activity coefficients cannot be
measured experimentally, so they are based on theoretical calculations. The pH scale is
not an absolute scale; it is relative to a set of standard solutions whose pH is established
by international agreement.[1]

The concept of pH was first introduced by Danish chemist Søren Peder Lauritz Sørensen
at the Carlsberg Laboratory in 1909. It is unknown what the exact definition of p is. Some
references suggest the p stands for “Power”[2], others refer to the German word “Potenz”
(meaning power in German)[3], still others refer to “potential”. Jens Norby published a
paper in 2000 arguing that p is a constant and stands for “negative logarithm”[4]; which
has also been used in other works[5]. H stands for Hydrogen. Sørensen suggested the
notation "PH" for convenience, standing for "power of hydrogen",[2] using the
cologarithm of the concentration of hydrogen ions in solution, p[H][6] Although this
definition has been superseded p[H] can be measured if an electrode is calibrated with
solution of known hydrogen ion concentration.
Pure water is said to be neutral. The pH for pure water at 25 °C (77 °F) is close to 7.0.
Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than
7 are said to be basic or alkaline. pH measurements are important in medicine, biology,
chemistry, food science, environmental science, oceanography and many other
applications.

Think about hydrogen ions as being

pH in living systems[18]
these charged up reactive Compartment pH
particles, sort of like reved up
engines. In fact a hydrogen ion is Gastric acid 0.7
positively charged as it has lost
it's only electron, so really it's Lysosomes 4.5
just a proton whizzing around, it Granules of chromaffin cells 5.5
desperately wants to get hooked up
with some electrons. Urine 6.0
Neutral H2O at 37 °C 6.81
Cytosol 7.2
One really important place that Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) 7.3
hydrogen ions get 'used' or rather
'moved' is in the mitochondria (the Blood 7.34 – 7.45
little power house of the cell) In
this mitochondrian these hydrogen Mitochondrial matrix 7.5
ions are pumped between two Pancreas secretions 8.1
membranes. This sets up a difference
in concentration of hydrogen ions
(that pH scale) so one side of the membrane has lots of hydrogen ions
. The mitochondria can then let some hydrogens pass through special
proteins and in the process transfer all that hydrogen ion energy into
a useful energy molecule called ATP that can then go around the cell
to do other useful things (like contract muscles).

This situation is very similar to a dam and hydroelectric station. As

the water from the dam rushes through the turbine it creates
electricity. In the mitochondria it is not a large volume of water but
rather a difference in hydrogen ion concentration. It's simialr to the
way a battery works also,one part of the battery has more electrons
than the other and they all want to rush and spread out but if you use
a wire you can control how they get through. Mitochondria are like a
battery in some way they have a positive and negative part to them.

But they call it a "large electrochemical proton gradient" Which just

means a big difference in pH from one side to the other side.

So it's really important that the pH is correct in different parts so

of the body or cells sol they can function properly, especially the
mitochondria.

What is a cytosol?
 In: Biology [Edit categories]

The fluid portion of the cytoplasm where a part of the cell metabolism occurs.....