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Acids and Alkalis

What is an alkali?

Alkali is pronounced like alcohol,
with 'lie' at the end instead of 'hol'.

An alkali is any substance which produces OH^-  ions in water.
OH^-  ions are called hydroxide ions (see examples).

A substance which will neutralise an acid,
but does not dissolve in water, is called a base.
For example,
copper(II) oxide, iron(II) oxide and zinc carbonate are bases,
they do not dissolve in water (see salts made from bases or carbonates).

Any base which dissolves in water is called an alkali.

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