How does blood act as a buffer?
There are several ways to approach this problem..First as background blood has many compounds that can act to buffer its pH between 6.9-7.4…bicarbonate, phosphate, certain amino acids, etc all work to help resist substantial pH changes in the blood. A way to look at the ability of blood to act as a buffer is to measure its buffer capacity. That is by definition the amount of strong base ( usually NaOH , 0.1 or 0.01 N ) or strong acid ( usually HCl, 0.1 or 0.01N ) that must be added to the solution to either raise ( for the added base ) or lower ( for the added acid ) the pH of the solution by 1 pH unit…so for your experiment use animal blood masure the pH with a pH electrode and then add known volumes of either the base or the acid until the pH cahnges by one pH unit.The volume added is the buffer capacity measured in mLs. For control use a non-buffered solution like water with minimal amounts of red food coloring for effect.
