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In chemistry, an alkali (/ ˈ æ l k ə l aɪ /; from the Arabic word al-qāly, القلوي) is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0.
A strong base is a basic chemical compound that can remove a proton (H +) from (or deprotonate) a molecule of even a very weak acid (such as water) in an acid–base reaction. Common examples of strong bases include hydroxides of alkali metals and alkaline earth metals, like NaOH and Ca(OH) 2, respectively. Due to their low solubility, some ...
These are not the only phosphides and arsenides of the alkali metals: for example, potassium has nine different known phosphides, with formulae K 3 P, K 4 P 3, K 5 P 4, KP, K 4 P 6, K 3 P 7, K 3 P 11, KP 10.3, and KP 15. [120] While most metals form arsenides, only the alkali and alkaline earth metals form mostly ionic arsenides.
Alkali salts or base salts are salts that are the product of incomplete neutralization of a strong base and a weak acid. Rather than being neutral (as some other salts), alkali salts are bases as their name suggests. What makes these compounds basic is that the conjugate base from the weak acid hydrolyzes to form a basic solution.
For example, when sodium hydroxide reacts with hydrochloric acid, sodium chloride is formed: NaOH(aq) + HCl(aq) → NaCl(aq) + H 2 O(l) In general, such neutralization reactions are represented by one simple net ionic equation: OH − (aq) + H + (aq) → H 2 O(l) This type of reaction with a strong acid releases heat, and hence is exothermic.
For example, sodium hydroxide, NaOH, is a strong base. NaOH(aq) → Na + (aq) + OH − (aq) Therefore, when a strong acid reacts with a strong base the neutralization reaction can be written as H + + OH − → H 2 O. For example, in the reaction between hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide the sodium and chloride ions, Na + and Cl − take ...
Salts of strong acids and strong bases ("strong salts") are non-volatile and often odorless, whereas salts of either weak acids or weak bases ("weak salts") may smell like the conjugate acid (e.g., acetates like acetic acid and cyanides like hydrogen cyanide ) or the conjugate base (e.g., ammonium salts like ammonia) of the component ions.
An example of the use of sodium carbonate as an alkali is when washing soda (another name for sodium carbonate) acts on insoluble esters, such as triglycerides, commonly known as fats, to hydrolyze them and make them soluble. Bauxite, a basic hydroxide of aluminium, is the principal ore from which the metal is manufactured. [11]