1. Outline a procedure to prepare an ammonia/ammonium buffer solution.

I'm confused how to start it off.

This is an outline of how the steps should be:

Step One - Calculate the concentration of hydronium ions in the solution that requires buffering. You can determine this concentration from the pH of the solution.
Use the formula: [H3O+(aq)]=10−pH

Step Two - Using the Table of Relative Strengths of Acids and Bases, choose the weak acid that has a Ka closest to the hydronium ion concentration of the solution that requires buffering.

Step Three - Mix equal quantities of the weak acid and its conjugate base (salt). Buffers work best if the ratio of weak acid to conjugate base is 1:1. An ideal buffer contains these two entities in equal concentration.

How would I write the steps using the ammonia/ammonium buffer solution given above?

1 answer

I'm not sure at what point you are confused. Step 1 you convert (H3O^-) to pH.