buffer /buf·fer/ (buf´er)
buffer
buffer [buf´er]
buffer,
buffer
1. a chemical system that prevents changes in hydrogen ion concentration.
2. a physical or physiological system that tends to maintain constancy.
buff·er (b f  r)n. A substance that minimizes change in the acidity of a solution when an acid or base is added to the solution. v. To treat a solution with a buffer. |
buffer
Etymology: ME, buffe, to cushion
a substance or group of substances that tends to control the hydrogen ion concentration in a solution by reacting with hydrogen ions of an acid added to the system and releasing hydrogen ions to a base added to the system. Buffers minimize significant changes of pH in a chemical system. Among the functions carried out by buffer systems in the body is maintenance of the acid-base balance of the blood and of the proper pH in kidney tubules. See also blood buffers, pH.
buffer [buf´er]
a substance that, by its presence in solution, increases the amount of acid or alkali necessary to produce a unit change in pH. The bicarbonate buffer system in the blood maintains a balance between bicarbonate and carbon dioxide ions and deterimnes the pH of the blood.
buffer,
n a substance in a fluid that tends to lessen the change in hydrogen ion concentration that otherwise would be produced by adding acids or alkalis.
buffer
Chemistry A chemical system that minimizes the effects, in particular the pH, of changes in the concentration of a substance
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