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What factors make buffers so important to the survival of living organisms?

What factors make buffers so important to the survival of living organisms?

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Answer #1

A buffer is a chemical substance that helps maintain a relatively constant pH in a solution, even after the addition of acids or bases. Buffering is important in living systems as a means of maintaining a fairly constant internal environment, also known as homeostasis. Thus the most important factor that makes buffer so important to the survival of human beings is to resist the change in the pH.

Buffers react with strong acids and bases and neutralize them. This causes only a small change in pH. An example of this is blood. Blood is made up of haemoglobin which is a very good buffer maintaining the pH of the blood constant. Along with this bicarbonate buffer is also present in the blood. The bicarbonate neutralizes excess acids in the blood while the carbonic acid neutralizes excess bases.

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