the.com/buffer solution
A chemical that argues with you until pH stays put.
means A solution that resists changes in pH when small amounts of acid or base are added, because it contains a weak acid and its conjugate base (or a weak base and its conjugate acid) working together to soak up the trouble.
from 'Buffer' in English goes back to an old verb meaning to cushion a blow, related to 'buff' as in something that absorbs shock — think of a buffer on a train car softening a collision. Chemists borrowed that cushioning sense in the early 20th century for solutions that absorb shocks to pH instead of physical shocks, keeping acidity from lurching wildly when something is added.
- made of
- weak acid plus its conjugate base
- superpower
- resists pH change when acid or base added
- in you
- blood stays near pH 7.4 because of this
- limit
- overwhelm it enough and it finally caves