Acids and Alkalis

Talk about acids and alkalis. Acids taste sour and alkalis taste bitter. Everyone knows that. Some people say alkalis as bases. But in Malaysia is alkali because Malaysia is a Malay country that uses some Arabic words. The word "alkali" is derived from Arabic al qalīy (or alkali),^[1] meaning the calcined ashes, 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, 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, which ultimately derives from alkali. Acid was derived from the word acidus in Latin meaning sour. Chemical compounds like acids and alkali cone be determined by litmus papers or indicators to see their pH(percent Hydrogen scale). Acids and Alkalis can react together to form salts or water or together.

 Some pH values:

HCl pH0
H₂SO_{4    pH0}
H₂CO_3   ph3.6
NaOH   ph 14


Some equations

HCl + NaOH=NaCl+H20