Which of the following could be added to a solution of acetic acid to prepare a buffer? sodium acetate sodium hydroxide nitric acid hydrofluoric acid
a) sodium acetate only
b) sodium acetate or sodium hydroxide
c) nitric acid only
d) hydrofluoric acid or nitric acid

Option (B) is correct

Explanation:

Buffers are of three kinds - (1) mixture of weak acid and it's salt, (2) mixture of weak base and it's salt and (3) mixture of weak acid and weak base

if we add sodium acetate into a solution of acetic acid then the mixture would act as a buffer due to presence of weak acid (acetic acid) and it's salt (sodium acetate).

If we add some amount of sodium hydroxide into a solution of acetic acid then some amount of acetic acid gets converted to it's sodium salt. Hence, unreacted amount of acetic acid and it's salt acts as a buffer.

So, either sodium acetate or sodium hydroxide addition would produce a buffer.