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Home/Science&Nature/Science/Chemistry/DifferenceBetweenAlkaliandBase

DifferenceBetweenAlkaliandBase
PostedonOctober15,2011byadmin

AlkalivsBase

The word alkali is often used interchangeably to

addresshighlybasicsolutionsandalkalimetals.Inthis
context,alkaliisreferredtothealkalimetals.
Base
Basesaredefinedinseveralwaysbyvariousscientists.
Arrhenius defines a base as a substance that donates
OH ions to the solution. Bronsted Lowry defines a
base as a substance that can accept a proton. According to Lewis, any electron donor is a base.
AccordingtotheArrheniusdefinition,acompoundshouldhaveahydroxideanionandtheabilityto
donateitasahydroxideiontobeabase.However,accordingtoLewisandBronstedLowry,there
can be molecules, which dont possess hydroxides, but can act as a base. For example, NH3 is a
Lewisbase,becauseitcandonatetheelectronpaironnitrogen.Na2CO3isaBronstedLowrybase
withouthydroxidegroups,buthastheabilitytoaccepthydrogens.
Bases have a slippery soap like feeling and a bitter taste. They react easily with acids producing
waterandsaltmolecules.Causticsoda,ammonia,andbakingsodaaresomeofthecommonbases
wecomeacrossveryoften.Basescanbecategorizedintotwo,basedontheirabilitytodissociate
andproducehydroxideions.StrongbaseslikeNaOH,KOH,arecompletelyionizedinasolution,to
giveions.WeakbaseslikeNH3partiallydissociateandgivefeweramountsofhydroxideions.Kbis
thebasedissociationconstant.Itgivesanindicationoftheabilitytolosehydroxideionsofaweak
base. Acids with a higher pKa value (more than 13) are weak acids, but their conjugate bases are
considered as strong bases. To check whether a substance is a base or not we can use several
indicatorslikelitmuspaperorpHpaper.BasesshowapHvaluehigherthan7,anditturnsredlitmus
toblue.
Alkali

Alkali is a term commonly used for the metals in the group 1 of the periodic table. These are also
knownasalkalimetals.AlthoughHisalsoincludedinthisgroup,itissomewhatdifferent.Therefore,
lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium (K), Rubidium (Rb), Cesium (Cs) and Francium (Fr) are
members of this group. Alkali metals are soft, shiny, silvery color metals. They all have only one
electronintheiroutershell,andtheyliketoremovethisandform+1cations.Whentheoutermost
electronsareexcited,itcomesbacktothegroundstatewhileemittingradiationinthevisiblerange.
Theemissionofthiselectroniseasythus,alkalimetalsareveryreactive.Thereactivityincreases
down the column. They form ionic compounds with other electronegative atoms. More accurately,
alkaliisreferredtothecarbonateorthehydroxideofanalkalimetal.Theyalsohavebasicproperties.
Theyarebitterintaste,slippery,andreactwithacids,tomakethemneutralized.

Whatisthedifferencebetweenbaseandalkali?

Group1metalsarereferredasalkali,ormoreaccurately,theircarbonates
andhydroxidesarereferredasalkali.However,theyhavebasicproperties,
thusisasubsetofbases.

Soallalkalisarebases,butnotallbasesarealkalis.

Alkaliisanionicsalt,whereasbasesarenecessarilynotso.

Relatedposts:
1. DifferenceBetweenBaseandNucleophile
2. DifferenceBetweenAcidandBase
3. DifferenceBetweenAcidandAlkaline
4. DifferenceBetweenBaseRateandBPLRRate
5. DifferenceBetweenBrazeandWeld

FiledUnder:Chemistry
TaggedWith:alkali,alkalimetals,alkalimetalsvs,alkalivs,Arrheniusbase,base,basedissociationconstant,basevs,bases,
basicsolutions,BronstedLowry'sbase,characteristicsofalkalimetals,characteristicsofbase,commonbases,conjugatebases,
Group1metals,ionicsalt,Lewisbase,propertiesofalkali,propertiesofbase,Strongbases,Weakbases

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