Question

The manufacturer's label for the "aspirin" lists aspirin as the active ingredient and various fillers and binders as inactive ingredients. The manufacturer's label for the "buffered aspirin" lists aspirin as the active ingredient and calcium carbonate, along with fillers and binders, as inactive ingredients. Given these lists of ingredients, is "buffered aspirin" a true buffer? Explain why it is or is not. If it is a buffer, what are the relevant conjugate acid/base pairs. is not. If it is a buffer, what are the relevant conjugate acid/base pairs.

Answer 1

answer :

Buffered aspirin is not a true buffer because it isn't made of a weak acid and its conjugate base.

A true buffer should be acetylsalicylic acid and acetylsalicylate. But, buffered aspirin acts as a buffer because the

calcium carbonate can neutralize some of a present acid. For example, calcium carbonate can neutralize some of

the hydrochloric acid in the stomach because this will prevent HCl from protonizing the acetylsalicylate, which

produces aspirin in its acidic form