Question

Explain the acidity of a base.

Answer 1

Base - The chemicals which release hydroxyl ions when dissolved in water are called bases.

For example -sodium hydroxide$\left(\mathrm{NaOH}\right)$.

The acidity of a base - The number of hydroxyl ions produced by the base when dissolved in water is called its acidity.

Based on that bases are of the following types-

1. Monoacidic base - The bases which produce only one hydroxyl ion per molecule are called monoacidic bases.

For example - Potassium hydroxide$\left(\mathrm{KOH}\right)$.

$$\begin{gathered} \mathrm{KOH}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)\stackrel{\mathrm{water}}{\rightleftharpoons }{\mathrm{K}}^{+}+{\mathrm{OH}}^{-} \\ (\mathrm{potassium}(\mathrm{potassium}\left(\mathrm{hydroxide} \\ \mathrm{hydroxide}\right)\mathrm{ion})\mathrm{ion}) \end{gathered}$$

2. Diacidic base - The bases which produce two hydroxyl ions per molecule are called diacidic bases.

For example - Magnesium hydroxide$\left[\mathrm{Mg}{\left(\mathrm{OH}\right)}_2\right]$.

$$\begin{gathered} \mathrm{Mg}{\left(\mathrm{OH}\right)}_2\left(\mathrm{l}\right)\stackrel{\mathrm{water}}{\rightleftharpoons }{\mathrm{Mg}}^{2+}+2{\mathrm{OH}}^{-} \\ (\mathrm{magnesium}(\mathrm{magnesium}(\mathrm{hydroxide} \\ \mathrm{hydroxide})\mathrm{ion})\mathrm{ion}) \end{gathered}$$

3. Triacidic base - The bases which produce three hydroxyl ions per molecule are called triacidic bases.

For example - Aluminium hydroxide$\left[\mathrm{Al}{\left(\mathrm{OH}\right)}_3\right]$.

$$\begin{gathered} \mathrm{Al}{\left(\mathrm{OH}\right)}_3\left(\mathrm{l}\right)\stackrel{\mathrm{water}}{\rightleftharpoons }{\mathrm{Al}}^{3+}+3{\mathrm{OH}}^{-} \\ (\mathrm{aluminium}(\mathrm{aluminium}\left(\mathrm{hydroxide} \\ \mathrm{hydroxide}\right)\mathrm{ion})\mathrm{ion}) \end{gathered}$$