Now, like acids, bases share certain similar characteristics when placing aqueous solutions. Here, we're going to look at the dissolution of bases. We're going to look at taste and feel, and then we're going to look at litmus paper. So bases, just like acids, will ionize when placed in water.
So here we have an example of sodium hydride. Sodium breaks up into Na1+(aq), and then we have the hydride ion. Remember the hydride ion represents a basic anion and then here we have strontium hydroxide. Strontium is a group 2A, so it's Sr2+(aq) and then we have two hydroxide ions, OH2(aq) taste and feel.
We're going to say here that bases have a bitter taste. So a good way to remember is bases with B, bitter with B. And we're going to say they are slippery to the touch. Believe it or not, when we look at soap, soap represents a base. Soap. Just remember the way they taste. They are bitter and they are slippery to the touch. Think of soap as a way of of remembering how bases can be used in everyday use.
Now litmus paper, Remember, litmus paper reacts just in the same way as acids and can we can use litmus paper on acids, we can use litmus paper on bases. Now here though, the litmus paper reacts to the presence of the basic anion, here a base. We're going to say it changes a red litmus paper into blue. So you take your red limits paper, you dip it into the basic solution, and when you pull it out, the red litmus paper has transitioned to a bluish color. So keep these in mind when we're talking about the basic characteristics of a base.