8.10 Buffer Capacity

Explain the relationship between the buffer capacity of a solution and the relative concentrations of the conjugate acid and conjugate base components of the solution.

• Increasing the concentration of the buffer components (while keeping the ratio of these concentrations constant) keeps the pH of the buffer the same but increases the capacity of the buffer to neutralize added acid or base.
• When a buffer has more conjugate acid than base, it has a greater buffer capacity for addition of added base than acid. When a buffer has more conjugate base than acid, it has a greater buffer capacity for addition of added acid than base.