"Strong" bases ionize completely in water.
Example: Sodium hydroxide, NaOH, is a strong base.
Bases are substances that releases hydroxide ions, OH-,
in water.
"Strong" bases ionize completely
in water. For example,
The above reaction indicates that when sodium hydroxide reacts with water, hydroxide
ions are produced in aqueous solution. Note that the arrow points to the products,
indicating that virtually ALL the NaOH becomes Na+ and OH-
ions in aqueous solution. NaOH is therefore a strong
base.
"Weak" bases ionize partially in
water.
Ammonia, NH3, does not completely ionize in water.
Most of the ammonia in solution remains un-ionized and a small fraction ionizes
to form OH- and NH4+ ions. To represent this
in a chemical equation, a double arrow is used. The longer arrow pointing toward
the reactants indicates that ammonia in solution remains un-ionized. NH3
is classified as a weak base.
Important Bases:
Learn the names and formulae of eight strong
bases.
