Dissolve enough sodium acetate (or other acetate) to reach .5 M (which is .5Mol/L) you use the molecular weight of the acetate and the mass of the acetate to figure out how much to add. Then once dissolved in the appropriate amount of water simply adjust the pH using a strong acid or base until the pH is 6.0. (or desired pH)

Thanks for your interest Dear Ahmad

If you want the total acetate ion concentration to be 0.5M, prepare a solution of 0.5M sodium acetate and a solution of 0.5M acetic acid. Mix them together in the necessary proportion to get the pH you want while measuring the pH on a calibrated pH meter. Be aware of the effect of temperature on pH.

Attach the chapter book for buffer preparation. However, I propouse you for many buffer preparation use the "Buffer Maker" software of Chem Buddy. It very excellent software for inert salts, temperature influence and ionic strenght. Regards

Attach the chapter book for buffer preparation. However, I propouse you for many buffer preparation use the "Buffer Maker" software of Chem Buddy. It very excellent software for inert salts, temperature influence and ionic strenght. Regards

Dear Carlos, Thank you for this document and information. I am trying éBuffer Makeré software now.

I agree with Adam B Shapiro's answer.

As a Teaching/Research Laboratory technician, I have to make lots of buffers. It really isn't difficult if you note carefully the buffer name, molarity and pH. The name of the buffer gives you an indication that it is the acetate part of the salt that is important so, unless a preference is stated elewhere (ie, if you need to match the base ion to that used for another step further down the line) you can use (eg) sodium or potassium acetate at a concentration of 0.5M. The correct weight of acetate salt can be added to a flask of known volume, to be completely dissolved in deionised water before checking the pH, then acetic acid added gradually, with stirring, until the correct pH is reached (the stoichiometry will usually take care of the contribution of acetic acid to the final concentration of the acetate in the buffer, which should be negligible). If the pH is too low, then use a base that will not introduce unwanted ions into your buffer by matching it to the base ion of the acetate salt (ie: Sodium hydroxide for sodium acetate or Potassium hydroxide for potassium acetate). The hydroxide used should be dilute, as it is a strong base, and added gradually (with stirring, while monitoring with a correctly calibrated pH meter) until the desired pH has been achieved, then the final volume corrected with deionised water, and the whole mixed thoroughly before use.

Thank you, Dear Zoe