Free Buffer Solutions MCQs with Answers

30 Buffer Solutions MCQs from Chemistry, each with the correct answer and a written explanation of why it is correct. Free and unlimited, with no account needed.

Buffer solutions resist changes in pH when small amounts of acid or base are added, using a weak acid and its conjugate base or a weak base and its conjugate acid. Work includes buffer action, the common-ion effect, Henderson-Hasselbalch calculations, buffer capacity, and the difference between acidic and basic buffers.

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30 questions · page 1 of 2

Easy
  • A. has a pH of exactly 7
  • B. neutralises all acids completely
  • C. resists a change in pH when a small amount of acid or base is added
  • D. conducts electricity better than water

Explanation: A buffer contains a reservoir of both a weak acid and its conjugate base, so added hydrogen ions are mopped up by the base and added…

Correct answer: resists a change in pH when a small amount of acid or base is added
  • A. Hydrochloric acid and sodium chloride
  • B. Sodium hydroxide and sodium chloride
  • C. Ammonia and ammonium chloride
  • D. Acetic acid and sodium acetate

Explanation: An acidic buffer needs a weak acid together with the salt of that acid, and acetic acid with sodium acetate is the standard example.

Correct answer: Acetic acid and sodium acetate
  • A. the total volume of the solution
  • B. the temperature only
  • C. the presence of a catalyst
  • D. the dissociation constant of the acid and the ratio of salt to acid concentration

Explanation: The Henderson Hasselbalch relationship gives pH as pKa plus the logarithm of the ratio of salt to acid, so it is the ratio that matters…

Correct answer: the dissociation constant of the acid and the ratio of salt to acid concentration
  • A. NH4OH/NH4Cl
  • B. NaOH/NaCl
  • C. NaOH/HCl
  • D. H2CO3/NaHCO3

Explanation: A basic buffer needs a weak base together with the salt of that base, and ammonium hydroxide with ammonium chloride is the standard…

Correct answer: NH4OH/NH4Cl
  • A. More ammonium hydroxide is formed
  • B. Reaction will move reverse
  • C. Reaction will move forward
  • D. No effect on equilibrium

Explanation: The added hydrogen ions are mopped up by the weak base ammonium hydroxide, which reacts forward to give ammonium ions and water, so the pH…

Correct answer: Reaction will move forward
  • A. Neutralization
  • B. Osmosis
  • C. Buffer
  • D. Active transport

Explanation: A buffer resists a change in pH when small amounts of acid or base are added because its weak acid and conjugate base, or weak base and…

Correct answer: Buffer
  • A. 8 to 14
  • B. 6 to 10
  • C. 7 to 11
  • D. 0 to 14

Explanation: On the usual 0 to 14 pH scale, alkaline solutions have pH values greater than 7, commonly written as 8 to 14.

Correct answer: 8 to 14
  • A. 9 to 8
  • B. 6 to 7
  • C. 1 to 6
  • D. 1 to 10

Explanation: On the school-level pH scale, acids have pH values below 7, commonly represented as 1 to 6.

Correct answer: 1 to 6
  • A. 5
  • B. 3
  • C. 7
  • D. 10

Explanation: A pH of 7 is neutral at about 25 °C because the concentrations of hydrogen ions and hydroxide ions are equal.

Correct answer: 7
  • A. methyl Orange
  • B. litmus
  • C. phenol red
  • D. phenopthalein

Explanation: HCl is a strong acid and NH4OH is a weak base, so their equivalence point is acidic because NH4+ hydrolyses to produce H3O+.

Correct answer: methyl Orange
  • A. H2CO3 - HCO3
  • B. H2CO3 - CO32-
  • C. CH3COOH - CH3COO-
  • D. NH2CONH2 - NH2CONH+

Explanation: The principal blood buffer is the carbonic acid-bicarbonate pair, H2CO3 and HCO3-.

Correct answer: H2CO3 - HCO3
  • A. 0.115
  • B. 0.900
  • C. 0.015
  • D. 0.215

Explanation: Buffer capacity can be estimated as the amount of strong base added per unit change in pH: β = 0.010 mol / (4.832 - 4.745) = 0.010 mol /…

Correct answer: 0.115
  • A. 7.0
  • B. 7.4
  • C. 7.8
  • D. 8.2

Explanation: Tears are maintained close to neutral but are usually slightly alkaline, with a pH of about 7.4.

Correct answer: 7.4
  • A. Very strong base
  • B. Very weak acid
  • C. Very strong acid
  • D. Very strong salt

Explanation: A small Ka indicates that an acid ionises only slightly in water, so Ka less than 10^-3 is intended here to indicate a weak acid.

Correct answer: Very weak acid
  • A. Gibbs
  • B. Einstein
  • C. Sorenson
  • D. Chadwick

Explanation: Sørensen introduced the pH scale in 1909 and the related pOH concept is treated with it in acid-base chemistry.

Correct answer: Sorenson
  • A. 0.0002M HCI
  • B. 0.2 mole of NaCI with 0.2 mole of HNO3
  • C. 0.4 mole of CH3COOH with 0.4 mole of NaOH
  • D. 0.4 mole of NH3 with 0.2 mole of HCI

Explanation: A buffer contains a weak base and its conjugate acid. HCl neutralizes half of the 0.4 mol NH3, leaving 0.2 mol NH3 and producing 0.2 mol…

Correct answer: 0.4 mole of NH3 with 0.2 mole of HCI
  • A. KOH
  • B. NH3
  • C. PH3
  • D. BF3

Explanation: BF3 is a Lewis acid because the boron atom accepts an electron pair, so it is not a base.

Correct answer: BF3
  • A. 0
  • B. 1
  • C. 2
  • D. any one

Explanation: For a buffer, pH = pKa + log([benzoate]/[benzoic acid]). Equimolar amounts give [benzoate]/[benzoic acid] = 1, and log 1 = 0, so pH = 2 +…

Correct answer: 2
  • A. buffer solution
  • B. normal solution
  • C. standard solution
  • D. neutral solution

Explanation: A buffer contains a weak acid and its conjugate base, or a weak base and its conjugate acid, so it consumes small added amounts of H+ or…

Correct answer: buffer solution
  • A. brine
  • B. blood
  • C. glue
  • D. solution of CuSO4

Explanation: Blood contains the carbonic acid-hydrogen carbonate buffer system, which helps maintain blood pH despite small additions of acid or base.

Correct answer: blood

Buffer Solutions MCQs: common questions

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