Names:

1 Araquil, Ma Andel C.
2 Gerolaga, Winston Jake
3 Seduco, Rhett Adrian

Date Started: April 1, 2016

Date Finished: April 1, 2016

EXPERIMENT 7
Hydrolysis and Buffers
I

Introduction

Hydrolysis literally means reaction with water. It is a chemical process in which a

molecule is cleaved into two parts by the addition of a molecule of water. The most
common hydrolysis occurs when a salt of a weak acid or a weak base (or both) is
dissolved in water. Water auto ionizes into negative hydroxyl ions and hydrogen ions. The
salt breaks down into positive and negative ions.
A buffer is an aqueous solution that has a highly stable pH. If you add acid or base to
a buffer solution, its pH will not change significantly. Similarly, adding water to a buffer
or allowing water to evaporate will not change the pH of a buffer.
In this experiment, we would be able to:
1. Predict the relations of different types of salts with water; and
2. Show how buffers work when small amounts of strong acid and bases are
added.
II

Data and Results

Salt Solutions
0.1M NH4OAc
0.1M NaCl
0.1M NaOAc
0.1M NH4Cl
0.1M NaHCO3
0.1M Na2CO3

TABLE 7.1 Hydrolysis of Reaction Salts

Hydrolysis Reaction
NH4OAc + H2O NH4+(aq)+ OAc-(aq)
NaCl + H2O Na+(aq) + Cl-(aq)
NaOAc + H2O Na+(aq) + CH3COO-(aq)
NH4Cl + H2O NH4+(aq) + Cl-(aq)
NaHCO3 + H2O Na+(aq) + HCO3-(aq)
Na2CO3 2Na+(aq) + CO32-(aq)
CO32-(aq) +H2O(l) HCO3-(aq) + OH-(aq)

pH
7
7
8
7
10
10

TABLE 7.2 Weak Electrolytes and their Buffers

Colour with 1 drop of
Colour with 1 drop of
Methyl Orange
Phenolphthalein
0.1M CH3COOH
Dark peach
Cloudy white
0.1M CH3COOH + 0.1M
Light yellow
Transparent
CH3COONa
0.1M NH3
Yellow
Darker pink
Solutions

0.1M NH3 + 0.1M NH4Cl

Yellow orange
Dark pink
TABLE 7.3 Colour Changes Upon Addition of Strong Acid and Base
Solutions
Colour with 1 drop of
Colour with 1 drop of
Methyl Orange
Methyl Orange
HCl
NaOH
HCl
NaOH
0.1M CH3COOH
Light pink
Peach
No change
No change
0.1M CH3COOH + 0.1M
Dark yellow
No change
No change
No change
CH3COONa
0.1M NH3
Dark Yellow No change
No change
No change
0.1M NH3 + 0.1M NH4Cl
Gold
No change
No change
No change
III
Discussion
As stated in the introduction, hydrolysis is a reaction with water. It is a chemical
process that dissociates molecules into ions by the addition of a molecule of water.
A buffer solution is a solution that contains a weak base or a weak acid and their
respective ions and are able to resist large changes in pH upon addition of small amounts
of strong acids or bases.
We expect solutions of substances such as HCl and HNO 2 to be acidic and solutions
of NaOH and NH3 to be basic. However we may be somewhat surprised at first to
discover that aqueous solutions of some salts such as Na 2CO3 and NaHCO3 are basic,
whereas others such as NH4Cl and FeCl3 acidic. Salts are the products formed in
neutralization reactions of acids and bases. For example, when NaOH and HNO 2 react,
the salt NaNO2 is formed:
NaOH(aq) + HNO2(aq) NaNO2(aq) + H2O(l)
Nearly all salts are strong electrolytes and exist as ions in aqueous solutions. Many
ions react with water to produce acidic or basic solutions. The reactions of ions with
water are frequently called hydrolysis reactions. We see that anions such as CN- and
C2H3O2- that afre the conjugate bases of the weak acids HCN and HC 2H3O2, respectively,
react with water to form OH- ions. Cations such as NH4+ and Fe3+ come from weak bases
and react with water to form H+ ions.
NaCl, KBr and Ba(NO3)2 are examples of salts of a strong acid and a strong base.
Here, neither the cation nor anion hydrolyzes, and the solution has a pH of 7. NH 4Br,
ZnCl2 and Al(NO3)3 are examples of salts of a strong acid and a weak base. The cation
hydrolyzes, forming H+ ions, and the solution has a pH of less than 7. Salts of a weak acid
and a strong base are salts where the anion hydrolyzes, forming OH- ions and having a pH
of greater than 7. Examples of these are NaNO2, KC2H3O2, and Zn(NO2)2. In here, both
ions hydrolyze. The pH of the solution is determined by the relative extent to which each
ion hydrolyzes.
Buffer solutions are used to control the pH of solutions. They must have two
components one that will react with H+, and the other that will react with OH-. The two
components of a buffer solution are usually a weak acid and its conjugate base. Thus,
buffers are prepared by mixing a weak acid or a weak base with a salt of that acid or base.

IV

Conclusion

After this experiment, we were able to predict the relations of different types of salts
with water and to show how buffers work when small amounts of strong acid and bases are
added.
V
-

References
Freifelder, David (1987). Molecular Biology, 2nd edition. Boston: Jones and Bartlett.
What are Buffers and What Do They Do? (2016, February 17). Retrieved April 6,
2016, from http://chemistry.about.com/od/acidsbase1/a/buffers.htm
Nelson, J., Kemp, K. (2006) Laboratory Experiments, Tenth Edition. Prentice Hall,
Inc.
Hydrolysis_.pdf (n.d.) Retrieved April 6, 2016, from
http://www.elcamino.edu/faculty/abalakin/C%20H%20E%20M%20%201B%20%20%20%20Spring%202015/Laboratory/Hydrolysis_.pdf
Lab 8 Acids, Bases, Salts, and Buffers. (n.d.) Retrieved April 6, 2016, from
http://www.webassign.net/question_assets/ucscgencheml1/lab_8/manual.html