Strong Bases
A strong base is a basic chemical compound that is able to deprotonate very weak acids in an acid-base reaction. Common examples of strong bases are the hydroxides of alkali metals and alkaline earth metals like NaOH and Ca(OH)2. Very strong bases are even able to deprotonate very weakly acidic C–H groups in the absence of water. Here is a list of several strong bases:
- Potassium hydroxide (KOH)
- Barium hydroxide (Ba(OH)2)
- Caesium hydroxide (CsOH)
- Sodium hydroxide (NaOH)
- Strontium hydroxide (Sr(OH)2)
- Calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2)
- Lithium hydroxide (LiOH)
- Rubidium hydroxide (RbOH)
The cations of these strong bases appear in the first and second groups of the periodic table (alkali and earth alkali metals).
Acids with a pKa of more than about 13 are considered very weak, and their conjugate bases are strong bases.
Read more about this topic: Base (chemistry)
Famous quotes containing the words strong and/or bases:
“The mind cannot support moral chaos for long. Men are under as strong a compulsion to invent an ethical setting for their behavior as spiders are to weave themselves webs.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“In the beginning was the word, the word
That from the solid bases of the light
Abstracted all the letters of the void....”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)