Talk:Base (chemistry)

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The amino group (NH2−) acts as a base by accepting a H+ ion from the solution. It does this by forming a coordinate covalent bond with the unshared pair of electrons belonging to the nitrogen atom. This decreases the hydrogen ion concentration.

This subject is rather 'basic', so I think the article should be targeted at readers with little chemical background. Therefore I replaced the above example with the simpler case of ammonia.
—Herbee 17:28, 2004 Mar 9 (UTC)

I really liked this page it was very helpful!


THe reactions show hydrogen ions, but the wording says hydronium

maybe we should change the equations to have H30+


Out of curiosity, are strong bases just as dangerous (if not more) as strong acids to objects and, more importantly, humans? —Jay

I believe so, yes. Amonia (I think) is a base, and I know it's dangerous when inhaled. Also, drinking a base could kill you. ;)

The Slash 05:21, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] can denature proteins?

therefore more dangerous than acids?

[edit] strong base merger

There is not much content in strong base, hence why I put the merger up. Thoughts? Olin 22:15, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

I agree. There isn't any point to having an article devoted to 'strong bases'. Jgassens 17:36, 14 March 2006 (UTC)
they should be merged, as strong bases are learnt when you learn about bases.
I agree, but I also think that [Strong acid] should be merged with [Acid] as well, for consistency's sake

The Slash 05:19, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

I agree. But what about Superbase and Superacids ? Cubbi 16:35, 4 April 2007 (UTC)
If so, strong/weak bases would have to be merged into Base, and strong/weak acid would have to be merged with acid. It may be easier to get information if all were kept separate. As a student looking for information on strong bases in particular, the link on the sideba was very useful. This information would be less easily found if merged. Belenus 20:43, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] info in acids page

there is info in acids page about bases that could be put here. thoughts? --nkayesmith 10:41, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

i agree also!

I too agree that the section on Definitions of Acids & Bases could be basically copied here and then modified for base specific information. --Dawn Burn 04:37, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] About soap

Is really soap is a kind of alkali?Martin 04:24, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

No, bases actually react with your hand oils to make a kind of soap. So they are only soapy when you touch them with bare hands.

I knew that, but why the article says that soap is a kind of base?

Well, soap is definitely slippery (that stuff does actually eat away the oils from your skin, why it is so slippery), bitter tasting (don't swallow!), and I believe one of its ingredients persay is lye, a really strong base. Does that explain anything? David Martin Chao 04:08, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

soap (in its simplest form) is simply a salt of a fatty acid, for example sodium stearate. It has a basic pH because it's a salt of a weak acid and a strong base. Lye (NaOH or KOH) isn't an ingredient, it's a reagent used to neutralize the fatty acids when making soap. And yes, that's what seems to happen on your skin when you touch a strong base - it reacts with your oils making soap (which is slippery because it's a surfactant which has nothing to do with its pH) Cubbi 04:56, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] No merger plz

I just cheated on my chem exam with the "strong base" page.

It should stay.

Actually, if you want real justification, the reason I looked in wikipedia for this particular answer is that you can count the number of strong acids or bases (under standard conditions) on two hands. Therefore as a seperate page, it is a comprehensive resource.

this is a plus for me, if I wanted to know about acids or bases in general, I would look in my chemistry textbook. k. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 129.96.142.18 (talk • contribs) .

[edit] Undecided

I dont think that the pages should be merged, but that the strong bases page should be made more comprehensive. They are both useful, and I have used them and the Acid pages to help me with a chemistry project.

However, a merge would have benefits. If they were combined, then finding what you wanted may be easier.

I don't know.

Could be good, could be bad.

Probably useful, though.

Commander Bubble 11:12, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] decision time merge!

I am counting 4 editors in favor of merge, one against and one undecided, so unless there are objections the proposed merge will take place within 48 hours and try to keep merge discussion within one discussion please..V8rik 20:11, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sodium Hydroxide + Water

When NaOH is dissolved in water, doesn't it actually produce Na+ and H3O2-?

actually it produces a hydrated sodium cation and a hydrated hydroxide anion, which are commonly written as Na+ and OH-. Or, if you want to be pedantic, as Na+(aq) and OH-(aq) Cubbi 16:11, 4 April 2007 (UTC)
doesn't that depend on the definition of acid-base chem you're working with?

[edit] Strong bases

The stronger the base, the smaller the pKb value. Therefore the claim that strong bases are those with pKb GREATER than 13 doesn't make sense. Perhaps you meant pH?

[edit] Ranking of strong hydroxide bases?

In the article, it states that KOH is stronger than CsOH. Is this true? I've heard that CsOH is the strongest hydroxide base. It readily dissolves glass, but KOH can't. Also, it's hard to believe that RbOH is weaker than LiOH. It seems like there is no trend in strength of the alkali hydroxides in this ranking.

BTW, tetramethylammonium hydroxide is also a strong hydroxide base. So you can add it if you wish. Warut 21:05, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

strength has to do with a base's equilibrium constant; a weak base goes back and forth ( BOH<->B+ + OH-) while a strong only goes 1 way (BOH --> B+ +OH-). or are you talking about pure concentrations?????
A strong base (or acid) is one that disassociates completely (or close enough that you can't tell otherwise). That means that CsOH is equal to NaOH is equal to KOH. Ba(OH)2 is stronger, as are any strong bases that have two hydroxides. N.B. Not everything with a OH attached is a strong base, for example Mg(OH)2 is a weak base (and fairly insoluable to boot). one/zero 03:15, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
Then why is Ba(OH)2 listed as weaker than KOH? Warut (talk) 11:14, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Strong AND weak?

Under Base Definitions: "Bases may also be weak bases such as ammonia" Then Neutralization of Acids: "Neutralizing acid spills with strong bases, such as lye or ammonia..." Yeah... I'll just change the latter, feel free to argue that ammonia is actually a strong base(about 1% of it is protonated, although don't check the ammonia article on that; it says the exact opposite and I've posted there as well) Lowe--81.233.253.191 12:25, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tasting a base

Acid solutions taste sour, even dilute solutions of weak acids such as acetic acid. Thus, I'd expect you can taste sodium bicarbonate to get the taste of a base. To my palate, the taste of baking soda is not bitter. I taste bitter when I taste alkaloids. My schooling used the term "brackish" to define the taste of a base. Perhaps, there's a better term. However, I'd like to see something other than "bitter" describing the taste of a base.

Chemperson 23:08, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

Strong bases taste bitter, from my experience. Cubbi 00:44, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Dissociation constant

I think the value of the dissociation constant is incorrect, well for 23°C anyway.

"The concentration, measured in molarity (M or moles per dm³), of the ions is indicated as [H3O+] and [OH−]; their product is the dissociation constant of water with and has the value 10−7 M."

Should this not be 10−14 M, with [H3O+] being 10−7 M, giving you a pH of -log 10−7 = 7.