A hydride is a compound formed between hydrogen and any other element. In each horizontal row of the periodic table, the most basic hydrides are on the left and the most acidic hydrides are on the right.

What Are Five Common Acids?

• Sulfuric. Sulfuric acid.
• Hydrochloric. Hydrochloric acid.
• Nitric. Nitric acid.
• Lactic. Lactic acid.
• Acetic. Acetic acid.

Chemical Properties of Bases

• Bases change the colour of litmus from red to blue.
• They are bitter in taste.
• Bases lose their basicity when mixed with acids.
• Bases react with acids to form salt and water.
• They can conduct electricity.
• Bases feel slippery or soapy.
• Some bases are great conductors of electricity.

In chemistry, a base is a substance that can either accept hydrogen ions (protons) or, more generally, donate a pair of valence electrons; it can be thought of as the chemical opposite of an acid. Strong bases are commonly, though not exclusively, formed from the hydroxides of alkali metals and alkaline earth metals.

Examples of bases are sodium hydroxide, calcium carbonate and potassium oxide. A base is a substance that can neutralize the acid by reacting with hydrogen ions. Most bases are minerals that react with acids to form water and salts.

Acids are common in daily life. They are found within cells and digestive systems, occur naturally in foods, and are used for many common chemical reactions. Common strong acids include hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, and nitric acid.

In industry, acids and bases are used in various reactions. Sulfuric acid, one of the most important industrial chemicals, is used to manufacture fertilizers for agriculture, to make man-made fibers, paints and dyes, and to purify petroleum products. In daily life: without the strong acid present in our stomachs, we would not be able to digest food.

Examples of bases are the hydroxides of the alkali and alkaline earth metals (sodium, calcium, etc.) and the water solutions of ammonia or its organic derivatives (amines). Such substances produce hydroxide ions (OH -) in water solutions (see Arrhenius theory).

The usual measure of the strength of an acid is its acid dissociation constant (K a), which can be determined experimentally by titration methods. Stronger acids have a larger K a and a smaller logarithmic constant (pK a = −log K a) than weaker acids. The stronger an acid is, the more easily it loses a proton, H +.