| buffer | <biochemistry, chemistry> A system that acts to minimise the change in concentration of a specific chemical species in solution against addition or depletion of this species. PH buffers: weak acids or weak bases in aqueous solution. The working range is given by pKa +/ 1. Metal ion buffers: a metal ion chelator for example EDTA, partially saturated by the metal ion acts, as a buffer for the metal ion. (18 Nov 1997) |
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| buffer capacity | <chemistry> The ability of a buffer solution to absorb added alkali or acid while maintaining the solution's pH. (09 Oct 1997) |
| buffer index | The power of a substance in solution to absorb acid or alkali without change in pH; this is highest at a pH value equal to the pKa value of the acid of the buffer pair. See: buffer capacity. Synonym: buffer index. (05 Mar 2000) |
| buffer pair | An acid and its conjugate base (anion). (05 Mar 2000) |
| buffer value | The power of a substance in solution to absorb acid or alkali without change in pH; this is highest at a pH value equal to the pKa value of the acid of the buffer pair. See: buffer capacity. Synonym: buffer index. (05 Mar 2000) |
| buffer value of the blood | The ability of the blood to compensate for additions of acid or alkali without disturbance of the pH. (05 Mar 2000) |
| buffer zone | <ecology> An area of land separating two distinct land uses that acts to soften or mitigate the effects of one land use on the other. (09 Oct 1997) |
| riparian buffer | Riparian areas that are managed to protect the aquatic and riparian ecosystem. A riparian buffer protects water quality and temperature, habitat along the banks, upland habitat for aquatic and riparian species, and some or all of the floodplain. (05 Dec 1998) |
| secondary buffer | See: Hamburger's law. (05 Mar 2000) |
| dipolar buffer | Buffer whose structure can include opposite charges. Synonym: dipolar buffer. (05 Mar 2000) |
| zwitterionic buffer | Buffer whose structure can include opposite charges. Synonym: dipolar buffer. (05 Mar 2000) |
| acid salt | A salt in which not all of the ionizable hydrogen of the acid is replaced by the electropositive element; e.g., NaHSO4, KH2PO4. Synonym: bisalt, protosalt. (05 Mar 2000) |
| artificial Carlsbad salt | A mixture of potassium sulfate, sodium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, and dried sodium sulfate; a laxative. (05 Mar 2000) |
| artificial Kissingen salt | A mixture of potassium chloride, sodium chloride, anhydrous magnesium sulfate, and sodium bicarbonate; an antacid and laxative. (05 Mar 2000) |
| artificial Vichy salt | A mixture of sodium bicarbonate, anhydrous magnesium sulfate, potassium carbonate, and sodium chloride; an antacid. (05 Mar 2000) |