Now like acids, bases share in common certain characteristics when placed in aqueous solutions. So here we're going to take a look at their dissolution, their taste and feel, as well as their reaction with litmus paper. Just like acids, bases ionize when placed in water. So here we have sodium hydroxide. When I place it in water, it becomes sodium ion aqueous plus hydroxide ion aqueous. When I take strontium hydroxide and I place it in water, it becomes strontium ion aqueous, plus 2 hydroxide ions aqueous.
What about taste and feel? Well, we're going to say bases have a bitter taste. So bitter b bases b. And they are slippery to the touch. A great example of a base is in the manufacture of soaps. Soaps can be slippery when they're wet. Now litmus paper. Litmus paper reacts to the presence of the basic anion, the hydroxide ion. If I take red litmus paper and I dip it in a basic solution, it will change the red litmus paper into blue. Okay? So b base, blue, both of them have b. So that's a great way to remember the color changes associated with the base. Just remember, these are the most basic characteristics of bases when you're discussing them in aqueous solution.