Acids, Bases, Buffers and Cells:

Buffering capacity of living and non-living substances with the addition of OH & H
SBI 4U1
February 19, 2013

This lab consists of using water and an organic buffer (non-living) as well as a liver and
potato homogenate. The buffering capacity will be tested through the usage of an acid and a
base.
In this lab it is expected to see that the pH levels of the certain living and non-living
substances too increase when a base is added to the solution and if an acid was added to
the solution then the pH would be expected to decrease. In this experiment it is shown that
with the addition of an acid or base the non-living and living substances either became more
acidic or more basic.

Apparatus:
Tap water
Graduated cylinder x3
Small beaker (100mL) x8
Tweezers

0.1M HCl
Inorganic buffer
10% Liver homogenate
10% Potato homogenate

0.1M NaOH
pH Paper
Stirring rod

Method:

Step 5: Repeat steps 1-4 using 30mL of the other substances (Liver, Potato, and Inorganic
buffer).
Step 6: Repeat steps 1-4 only this time using a NaOH.
Observations & Analysis:
In the first experiment tap water, a liver homogenate, a potato homogenate and an
inorganic buffer was used to test its buffering capacity with the usage of an acid HCl. The
first substance used was water, starting at a pH of 7. As acid was added to the solution it
became saturated and the pH of the water started to decrease to a pH of 3. The next
substance used was the liver homogenate, starting at a pH of 6. In this substance similar to
water its pH started to decrease but it decreased at a slower rate. From a pH of 6 to a pH of
2. The third substance used was a potato homogenate, starting at a pH of 6. Similar to the
first two substances used as acid was added to the solution the pH starting to decrease but
at a faster rate than both substances. From a pH of 6 to a pH of 2.
The second experiment used the same solutions tap water, liver homogenate, potato
homogenate and organic buffer. These solutions were used to test its buffering capacity with
the usage of a base NaOH. In the first trial we used water, which had a starting pH of 7 and
once the base was added to the solution as expected it became more basic. from a pH of 7
to a pH of 10. The next solution used for the testing was a liver homogenate which had a pH
of 6 and as NaOH was added to the solution it became more basic but stayed at a neutral pH
of 7 after 5 drops. The third solution used was the potato homogenate, starting at a pH of 6.
Like the liver homogenate the potato's pH also increased and stayed at a pH of 8 - 8.5. In
the last solution, the inorganic buffer started with a neutral pH of 7. As base was added in
the solution drop by drop the solution stayed at a pH of 7-7.5.
The buffering capacity of each of the 4 test solutions become overwhelmed when the
solution was unable to produce enough buffers, in order to maintain the pH level that it
originally had prior to the addition of any acid or base. During the acid test, for water after

about 10 drops of HCl the water solution became overwhelmed and went from a pH or 7 to a
5. In the liver test it became overwhelmed after 7 drops of HCl as it held a pH of 6 then
dropped to a pH of 5. In the potato solution it became overwhelmed after 6 drops as it held a
pH of 6 the starts to drop to a pH of 5 and lower at a quick rate. For the organic buffer it held
a pH of 7 throughout the whole acid test which means it was able to produce enough buffers
to help it maintain a neutral pH. For the basic test, water started at a pH of 8 and was
overwhelmed after 15 drops as it was able to hold a pH of 8 but then increased to a pH of
9.5. The liver solution became overwhelmed after 7 drops of NaOH as it held a pH of 6 but
then increased to a pH of 7. In the potato solution it became overwhelmed after 9 drops as it
held a pH of 8 then dropped to a pH of 8.5. The inorganic solution wasn't overwhelmed and
stayed at a pH of 7- 7.5 during the whole test.
The initial concentration of the buffering chemicals (per ml) in each of the 4 test
solutions are related to their buffering capacity because their initial concentration of acid or
base and its salt determines how much of the buffering chemical it may release. Therefore,
the higher the initial concentration, the better the solutions buffering capacity, as it affects
the pH because of the amount of OH and H it can release to resist change. The ranking of
the solutionswith the highest buffering capacity to the lowest is the organic buffer, liver
homogenate, potato homogenate and lastly water,
In comparison of the liver and potato homogenate it is clearly shown that the
buffering capacity of animals and plants are quite similar. They are able to adapt to the
change in pH of their environment allowing them to be able to sustain life. For example the
certain foods that animal would eat like berries which are acidic, would create a problem in
the animals stomach but because the body knows it needs to release buffers to help
neutralize the pH the animal is able to eat what it likes. For the plants, rain water can be
quite acidic and so it makes the soil acidic as well. The acidity in the soil creates a horrible
environment for the plants dwell in. Therefore because of the buffer the plant is able to
absorb the water in the soil that it needs and is able to neutralize the acidity to a more
sustainable living condition.

Procedural Errors:
Source of error

Accuracy in the pH Reading

How it interfered with results

The accuracy of pH paper
affected the results of the
experiment because of the
color distortion in the paper. It
was very hard to accurately
predict the colour in the
solution as the colours on the
pH scale were a bit similar to
the other colours (For
example: 5s orange looked
like 6s orange.)

Solutions and/or extensions

Invest in a pH meter.

Freshness of Liver

Complete blending of
Acid/Base with the 4 solutions

The freshness of the liver

determined the buffering
capacity in the solution. The
experiment was to figure out
how living organisms survive
in spite of shifts in pH.
However the liver was starting
to decay, so to perform these
experiments the groups had to
work at quick speeds to ensure
the buffering capacity will not
be affected.
During the experimentation
the solutions have a
probability that the acid added
into the solution was not
properly mixed therefore
creates a experimental
uncertainty. As the pH paper
was placed into the solution it
could have touched the parts
of the solution that contained
a great concentration of the
acid or base which could have
distorted the actual results.
Meaning the number
perceived could have been off.

Buying the liver the day of the

experiments will help in
delaying the time of decay.

Mix in Blender to ensure 100%

perfect balance and blend.

In conclusion it is prudent to say that maintaining pH balances are quite crucial for
sustaining life. The buffering capacity of any living or non-living organism is important
because buffers aid in the process of resisting changes in the pH levels of our body systems.
In this lab water(non-living), liver(living) and potato(living) were shown to either become
more basic or more acidic when a base or an acid was added to the solution. Which
illustrated that the buffers in our systems can become overwhelmed which can cause
different types of infections. Therefore through this lab it is shown that in order to sustain life
we must maintain a balanced pH in our bodies.