Liver Lab

Words: 448
Pages: 2

The hypothesis being stated was, if the pH of living cells in beef liver is related to the buffer solutions when acids and bases are added, the liver will respond most like the buffers than water. The hypothesis was supported by the data presented in the graph because it demonstrated that the constant pH of liver acted more like the buffers than the wildly changing pH of the tap water. Both buffers stayed relatively at the same pH level with the addition of bases (NaOH) and acids (HCL). Buffer #1 showed a consistent pH of 7 when both the acid and the base were added. Buffer #2 displayed a range of pH from 8-10 when adding HCl drops and remained a constant pH of 10 with the NaOH. Similarly, the beef liver remained at the pH of 7 when mixed with …show more content…
The tap water and NaOH mixture went from the pH of 6 up to a pH of 14. As shown in the graph, the pH of water ranged from 1-14, while the experimental group (liver) stayed constant. When comparing the two groups, they reacted oppositely in terms of pH with the added drops of HCl and NaOH. Some errors that possibly occurred include the pH paper not being as accurate of a source because there is just whole numbers, no in between. The pH number could have also been inexact because it is based on a color scale and every experimenter’s eyes view the colors differently. Additionally, the buffers solution could have not started exactly at a pH of 7 or at a pH of 10. Both buffers in the experiment sustained a steady pH because the role of buffers in our bodies is to regulate the pH and keep it from fluctuating dramatically. Buffers provide us with the ability to aid in homeostasis, the ability of an organism to maintain equilibrium by adjusting physiological process, because the buffer resists a change in pH even as acids and bases are being added. On the other hand,water has a pH of 7, therefore, it is