You have a pH buffer made from 0.010 M acetic acid and 0.020 M sodium acetate. To buffer a biological reaction, you add 5.0 mL of this buffer to 1.0 L of a solution that contains the system of interest.

(a) Calculate the pH of the buffered biological system.

(b) You find that the concentration of sodium ion is too high for your experiment. Propose a possible solution.

(c) A worker suggests that the pH of the buffer may not be what you calculated. She says the Henderson–Hasselbalch equation fails under these conditions. Propose an experiment or a calculation to determine whether she is correct.