"In chemistry, what is the term for a water-soluble base? It derives its name from the Arabic word for ""ashes."""
"Alkali In chemistry, an alkali (; from Arabic: ""al-qaly"" ""ashes of the saltwort"") is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal chemical element. An alkali also can be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0. The adjective alkaline is commonly, and alkalescent less often, used in English as a synonym for basic, especially for bases soluble in water. This broad use of the term is likely to have come about because alkalis were the first bases known to obey the Arrhenius definition"
"of a base, and they are still among the most common bases. The word ""alkali"" is derived from Arabic ""al qalīy"" (or ""alkali""), meaning ""the calcined ashes"" (see calcination), referring to the original source of alkaline substances. A water-extract of burned plant ashes, called potash and composed mostly of potassium carbonate, was mildly basic. After heating this substance with calcium hydroxide (""slaked lime""), a far more strongly basic substance known as ""caustic potash"" (potassium hydroxide) was produced. Caustic potash was traditionally used in conjunction with animal fats to produce soft soaps, one of the caustic processes that rendered soaps from"
"fats in the process of saponification, one known since antiquity. Plant potash lent the name to the element potassium, which was first derived from caustic potash, and also gave potassium its chemical symbol K (from the German name Kalium), which ultimately derived from alkali. Alkalis are all Arrhenius bases, ones which form hydroxide ions (OH) when dissolved in water. Common properties of alkaline aqueous solutions include: The terms ""base"" and ""alkali"" are often used interchangeably, particularly outside the context of chemistry and chemical engineering. There are various more specific definitions for the concept of an alkali. Alkalis are usually defined"
"Base (chemistry) In chemistry, bases are substances that, in aqueous solution, release hydroxide (OH) ions, are slippery to the touch, can taste bitter if an alkali, change the color of indicators (e.g., turn red litmus paper blue), react with acids to form salts, promote certain chemical reactions (base catalysis), accept protons from any proton donor or contain completely or partially displaceable OH ions. Examples of bases are the hydroxides of the alkali metals and the alkaline earth metals (NaOH, Ca(OH), etc., see alkali hydroxide and alkaline earth hydroxide). These particular substances produce hydroxide ions (OH) in aqueous solutions, and are"
"places in the Mediterranean region. The collected plants were burned. The resulting ashes were mixed with water. Sodium carbonate is soluble in water. Non-soluble components of the ashes sank to the bottom of the water container. The water with the sodium carbonate dissolved in it was then transferred to another container, and then the water was evaporated off, leaving behind the sodium carbonate. Another major component of the ashes that is soluble in water is potassium carbonate, a.k.a. potash. The resulting product consisted mainly of a mixture of sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate. This product was called ""soda ash"" (was"
"the remainder being mined from natural deposits. This method superseded the Leblanc process. The name ""soda ash"" is based on the principal historical method of obtaining alkali, which was by using water to extract it from the ashes of certain plants. Wood fires yielded potash and its predominant ingredient potassium carbonate (KCO), whereas the ashes from these special plants yielded ""soda ash"" and its predominant ingredient sodium carbonate (NaCO). The word ""soda"" (from the Middle Latin) originally referred to certain plants that grow in salt solubles; it was discovered that the ashes of these plants yielded the useful alkali soda"
"it is dissolved in water, and a base is one that produces hydroxide ions when dissolved in water. According to Brønsted–Lowry acid-base theory, acids are substances that donate a positive hydrogen ion to another substance in a chemical reaction; by extension, a base is the substance which receives that hydrogen ion. A third common theory is Lewis acid-base theory, which is based on the formation of new chemical bonds. Lewis theory explains that an acid is a substance which is capable of accepting a pair of electrons from another substance during the process of bond formation, while a base is"
"and water to produce ammonium and hydroxide. In this reaction ammonia is the base because it accepts a proton from the water molecule. Ammonia and other bases similar to it usually have the ability to form a bond with a proton due to the unshared pair of electrons that they possess. In the more general Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory, a base is a substance that can accept hydrogen cations (H)—otherwise known as protons. In the Lewis model, a base is an electron pair donor. In water, by altering the autoionization equilibrium, bases yield solutions in which the hydrogen ion activity is"
"chemical must either cause, directly or otherwise: The reaction of an acid with a base is called a neutralization reaction. The products of this reaction are a salt and water. In this traditional representation an acid–base neutralization reaction is formulated as a double-replacement reaction. For example, the reaction of hydrochloric acid, HCl, with sodium hydroxide, NaOH, solutions produces a solution of sodium chloride, NaCl, and some additional water molecules. The modifier (aq) in this equation was implied by Arrhenius, rather than included explicitly. It indicates that the substances are dissolved in water. Though all three substances, HCl, NaOH and NaCl"
"the acid ammonium after ammonium has donated a hydrogen ion towards the production of the water molecule. We can also refer to OH- as a conjugate base of , since the water molecule donates a proton towards the production of in the reverse reaction, which is the predominating process in nature due to the strength of the base over the hydroxide ion. Based on this information, it is clear that the terms ""Acid"", ""Base"", ""conjugate acid"", and ""conjugate base"" are not fixed for a certain chemical species; but are interchangeable according to the reaction taking place. The strength of a"
"are: Barium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide, zinc hydroxide, iron(II) hydroxide, tin(II) hydroxide, lead(II) hydroxide, copper(II) hydroxide, etc. When one molecule of base via complete ionization produces three hydroxide ions, the base is said to be triacidic. Examples of triacidic bases are: Aluminium hydroxide, ferrous hydroxide, Gold Trihydroxide, The concept of base stems from an older alchemical notion of ""the matrix"": Base (chemistry) In chemistry, bases are substances that, in aqueous solution, release hydroxide (OH) ions, are slippery to the touch, can taste bitter if an alkali, change the color of indicators (e.g., turn red litmus paper blue), react with"
"ash. The cultivation of such plants reached a particularly high state of development in the 18th century in Spain, where the plants are named ""barrilla""; the English word is ""barilla"". The ashes of kelp also yield soda ash, and were the basis of an enormous 18th century industry in Scotland. Alkali was also mined from dry lakebeds in Egypt. By the late 18th century these sources were insufficient to meet Europe's burgeoning demand for alkali for soap, textile, and glass industries. In 1791, the French physician Nicolas Leblanc developed a method to manufacture soda ash using salt, limestone, sulphuric acid,"
"probable basis of the Arabic form. According to Mahn, the Greek word χυμεία ""khumeia"" originally meant ""pouring together"", ""casting together"", ""weld"", ""alloy"", etc. (cf. Gk. ""kheein"" () ""to pour""; ""khuma"" (), ""that which is poured out, an ingot""). Assuming a Greek origin, chemistry is defined as follows: Later medieval Latin had ""alchimia / alchymia"" ""alchemy"", ""alchimicus"" ""alchemical"", and ""alchimista"" ""alchemist"". The mineralogist and humanist Georg Agricola (died 1555) was the first to drop the Arabic definite article ""al-"". In his Latin works from 1530 on he exclusively wrote ""chymia"" and ""chymista"" in describing activity that we today would characterize as"
"Aqueous Arrhenius acids have characteristic properties which provide a practical description of an acid. Acids form aqueous solutions with a sour taste, can turn blue litmus red, and react with bases and certain metals (like calcium) to form salts. The word ""acid"" is derived from the Latin ""acidus/acēre"" meaning ""sour"". An aqueous solution of an acid has a pH less than 7 and is colloquially also referred to as 'acid' (as in 'dissolved in acid'), while the strict definition refers only to the solute. A lower pH means a higher acidity, and thus a higher concentration of positive hydrogen ions"
"to the Muslim lands and Europe. Around 800 A.D. the Arabs of Egypt discovered ammonium chloride in the soot that resulted from burning camel dung, and this source became an alternative to the sources in Central Asia. Ammonium chloride Ammonium chloride is an inorganic compound with the formula NHCl and a white crystalline salt that is highly soluble in water. Solutions of ammonium chloride are mildly acidic. Sal ammoniac is a name of the natural, mineralogical form of ammonium chloride. The mineral is commonly formed on burning coal dumps from condensation of coal-derived gases. It is also found around some"
"acids, where a proton is extracted from a C-H bond. Some non-aqueous solvents can behave as acids. An acidic solvent will increase basicity of substances dissolved in it. For example, the compound CHCOOH is known as acetic acid because of its acidic behaviour in water. However it behaves as a base in liquid hydrogen chloride, a much more acidic solvent. In the same year that Brønsted and Lowry published their theory, G. N. Lewis proposed an alternative theory of acid–base reactions. The Lewis theory is based on electronic structure. A Lewis base is defined as a compound that can donate"
"water, so the Arrhenius and Brønsted-Lowry definitions are the most relevant. The Brønsted-Lowry definition is the most widely used definition; unless otherwise specified, acid-base reactions are assumed to involve the transfer of a proton (H) from an acid to a base. Hydronium ions are acids according to all three definitions. Although alcohols and amines can be Brønsted-Lowry acids, they can also function as Lewis bases due to the lone pairs of electrons on their oxygen and nitrogen atoms. The Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius attributed the properties of acidity to hydrogen ions (H) or protons in 1884. An Arrhenius acid is"
"of plants growing in sodium-rich soils, such as vegetation from the Middle East, kelp from Scotland and seaweed from Spain. Because the ashes of these sodium-rich plants were noticeably different from ashes of timber (used to create potash), they became known as ""soda ash"". It is synthetically produced in large quantities from salt (sodium chloride) and limestone by a method known as the Solvay process. The manufacture of glass is one of the most important uses of sodium carbonate. Sodium carbonate acts as a flux for silica, lowering the melting point of the mixture to something achievable without special materials."
"Etymology of chemistry In the history of science, the etymology of the word chemistry is debatable. It is agreed that the word derives from the word ""alchemy"", which is a European one, derived from ""kimiya"" () and alchemy ""al-kīmiyāʾ"" (). The Arabic term is derived from the Ancient Greek ""khēmia"" or ""khēmeia"". However, the ultimate origin of the root word, ""chem"", is uncertain. According to the ""Oxford English Dictionary"", ""al-kīmiyāʾ"" is derived from , which is derived from the ancient Egyptian name of Egypt (""khem"" or ""khm"", ""khame"", or ""khmi"", meaning ""blackness"" Therefore, alchemy is the ""Black Art"". However, it"
"as a subset of the bases. One of two subsets is commonly chosen. The second subset of bases is also called an ""Arrhenius base"". Alkali salts are soluble hydroxides of alkali metals and alkaline earth metals, of which common examples are: Soils with pH values that are higher than 7.3 are usually defined as being alkaline. These soils can occur naturally, due to the presence of alkali salts. Although many plants do prefer slightly basic soil (including vegetables like cabbage and fodder like buffalo grass), most plants prefer a mildly acidic soil (with pHs between 6.0 and 6.8), and alkaline"
"and these sources predominated in Europe and elsewhere until the early 19th century. The land plants (typically glassworts or saltworts) or the seaweed (typically ""Fucus"" species) were harvested, dried, and burned. The ashes were then ""lixiviated"" (washed with water) to form an alkali solution. This solution was boiled dry to create the final product, which was termed ""soda ash""; this very old name refers to the archetypal plant source for soda ash, which was the small annual shrub ""Salsola soda"" (""barilla plant""). The sodium carbonate concentration in soda ash varied very widely, from 2–3 percent for the seaweed-derived form (""kelp""),"
"Superbase In chemistry, a superbase is an extremely basic compound or caustic substance that has a high affinity for protons. The hydroxide ion is the strongest base possible in aqueous solutions, but bases that exist with much greater strengths than the bases that could exist in aqueous solutions are possible. Such bases are valuable in organic synthesis and are fundamental to physical organic chemistry. Superbases have been described and used since the 1850s. Reactions involving superbases often require special techniques since they are destroyed by water and atmospheric carbon dioxide as well as oxygen. Inert atmosphere techniques and low temperatures"
"Lye A lye is a metal hydroxide traditionally obtained by leaching ashes (containing largely potassium carbonate or ""potash""), or a strong alkali which is highly soluble in water producing caustic basic solutions. ""Lye"" is commonly an alternative name of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or historically potassium hydroxide (KOH), though the term ""lye"" refers to any member of a broad range of metal hydroxides. Today, lye is commercially manufactured using a membrane cell chloralkali process. It is supplied in various forms such as flakes, pellets, microbeads, coarse powder or a solution. Lyes are used to cure many types of food, including the"
"is also possible that ""al-kīmiyāʾ"" derived from , meaning ""cast together"". There are two main views on the derivation of the word, which agree in holding that it has an Arabic descent, the prefix ""al"" being the Arabic article. But according to one, the second part of the word comes from the Greek ""χημεία"", pouring, infusion, used in connexion with the study of the juices of plants, and thence extended to chemical manipulations in general; this derivation accounts for the old-fashioned spellings ""chymist"" and ""chymistry"". The other view traces it to ""khem"" or ""khame"", hieroglyph ""khmi"", which denotes black earth"
"reacts with an alkali salt (a metal hydroxide), the product is a metal salt and water. Acid–alkali reactions are also neutralization reactions. In general, acid–alkali reactions can be simplified to by omitting spectator ions. Acids are in general pure substances that contain hydrogen cations () or cause them to be produced in solutions. Hydrochloric acid () and sulfuric acid () are common examples. In water, these break apart into ions: The alkali breaks apart in water, yielding dissolved hydroxide ions: Acid–base reaction An acid–base reaction is a chemical reaction that occurs between an acid and a base, which can be"
"is water; the conjugate base is A and the conjugate acid is the hydronium ion. The Brønsted–Lowry definition applies to other solvents, such as dimethyl sulfoxide: the solvent S acts as a base, accepting a proton and forming the conjugate acid SH. In solution chemistry, it is common to use H as an abbreviation for the solvated hydrogen ion, regardless of the solvent. In aqueous solution H denotes a solvated hydronium ion rather than a proton. The designation of an acid or base as ""conjugate"" depends on the context. The conjugate acid BH of a base B dissociates according to"
"Acid-base extraction Acid-base extraction is a procedure using sequential liquid–liquid extractions to purify acids and bases from mixtures based on their chemical properties. Acid-base extraction is routinely performed during the work-up after chemical syntheses and for the isolation of compounds and natural products like alkaloids from crude extracts. The product is largely free of neutral and acidic or basic impurities. It is not possible to separate chemically similar acids or bases using this simple method. The fundamental theory behind this technique is that salts, which are ionic, tend to be water-soluble while neutral molecules tend not to be. The addition"
"increase the hydronium (HO) concentration in water, whereas bases reduce this concentration. A reaction between an acid and base is called neutralization. In a neutralization reaction, an aqueous solution of a base reacts with an aqueous solution of an acid to produce a solution of water and salt in which the salt separates into its component ions. If the aqueous solution is saturated with a given salt solute, any additional such salt precipitates out of the solution. The notion of a base as a concept in chemistry was first introduced by the French chemist Guillaume François Rouelle in 1754. He"
"ability to act as either an acid or a base in chemical reactions. According to the Brønsted-Lowry definition, an acid is a proton () donor and a base is a proton acceptor. When reacting with a stronger acid, water acts as a base; when reacting with a stronger base, it acts as an acid. For instance, water receives an ion from HCl when hydrochloric acid is formed: In the reaction with ammonia, , water donates a ion, and is thus acting as an acid: Because the oxygen atom in water has two lone pairs, water often acts as a Lewis"
"the solute prior to it dissolving. Aqueous solutions may contain, especially in alcaline zone or subjected to radiolysis, hydrated atomic hydrogen an hydrated electron. Aqueous solution An aqueous solution is a solution in which the solvent is water. It is mostly shown in chemical equations by appending (aq) to the relevant chemical formula. For example, a solution of table salt, or sodium chloride (NaCl), in water would be represented as Na(aq) + Cl(aq). The word ""aqueous"" (comes from ""aqua"") means pertaining to, related to, similar to, or dissolved in, water. As water is an excellent solvent and is also naturally"
"salts, excess fat or alkali, water, and liberated glycerol (glycerin). Saltwater soaps use potassium salts as found naturally in plant ashes (hence the element name ""potassium"" as derived from the term ""potash"", for the ashes left in a pot after burning wood or other plant materials), instead of the sodium salts found in commercial lye. Potassium is a alkali metal similar to sodium but more active. Similarly to sodium, potassium also can react with long fatty acid tails to make soap molecules. Potassium soaps dissolve and make salt water soap work better than sodium in salt waters such as in"
"names in the ancient world contained nitrate. The name is from the Ancient Greek ""νιτρων"" ""nitron"" from Ancient Egyptian ""netjeri"", related to the Hebrew ""néter"", for salt-derived ashes (their interrelationship is not clear). The Hebrew ""néter"" may have been used as, or in conjunction with soap, as implied by Jeremiah 2:22, ""For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap ..."" However, it is not certain which substance (or substances) the Biblical ""neter"" refers to, with some suggesting sodium carbonate. Indeed, the Neo Latin word for sodium, natrium, is derived from this same class of desert minerals"
"H when dissolved in protic solvents such as water: From this, a pH, or acidity, can be calculated for aqueous solutions of bases. Bases also directly act as electron-pair donors themselves: A base is also defined as a molecule that has the ability to accept an electron pair bond by entering another atom's valence shell through its possession of one electron pair. There are a limited number of elements that have atoms with the ability to provide a molecule with basic properties. Carbon can act as a base as well as nitrogen and oxygen. Fluorine and sometimes rare gases possess"