The earth is very beautiful, and we can’t stop learning from this beautiful planet, because our minds can’t even begin to comprehend, how this planet was created.
Therefore, we must continue to work on obtaining more knowledge about our planet, so that we can learn to take care of it. We do have some idea though and we continue to discover new and better information, which can help us achieve our goals, as humanity.
In today’s article, we are going to talk about bases, a substance that is very familiar in chemistry, it is everywhere and it forms part of our lives. In chemistry, there are three theories which are used to define bases, the first theory is called, the Arrhenius theory, and it states that a substance is a base if the substance produces an increase of OH- when that same substance is dissolved in water.
Another theory which defines bases is the Lewis theory, and it states that a substance is a base if that substance is able to donate electron pairs. The next and final definition of bases is based on the Brønsted-Lowry theory, which states that a base is defined as a substance, which is able to accept protons.
A base has a bitter taste, it can have a soapy feeling when applied to the body, and it has the ability to form salts, when it reacts with an acid. Key features of many organic and biochemical reactions are proton transfers; therefore, it is a fundamental skill to master proton transfer reactions, in order to draw conjugate bases.
Once an acid has lost its proton due to acid base reaction, then that acid is a conjugate base. There are of course weak and strong bases, a couple of strong bases are lithium hydroxide (LiOH) and Potassium hydroxide (KOH).
Strong bases completely dissociate in solution, because the conjugate acid cation is highly stable. Weak bases also exist, they partially dissociate in solution, due to the fact that their conjugate acid is not completely stable; a couple of weak bases are Ammonia NH3 and Water H2O.
Weak Arrhenius bases are those ionic compounds that have anions other than hydroxide, Sodium acetate NaC2H3O2 is an example of a weak base. Strong and weak bases are determine based on how readily they produce hydroxide ions in solutions.
The pH of a solution that is basic is greater than 7, and can also conduct energy, when it is dissolved in water. Bases are used in the production of soap, by mixing the base such as sodium hydroxide with fatty acids.
Common table salt is produced, when an acid and a base are mixed, because they react and neutralize the acid and base properties to produce salt. When an acid base reaction runs to completion the ending pH of the solution will be seven, which means neutral pH.
One specific factor has to be taken into consideration, when mixing acids and bases, such factor include the strength of the acid or base. Strong acids and bases will ionize completely, while weak acids or weak bases will only partially ionized.
Thank you for reading this article!!!