Question: What is the difference between acids and alkalis?

Drew Rae answered on 14 Jun 2011:

Acids and bases (alkali) are interesting in that they are defined according to what they do rather than what they are. In fact, one definition of an acid is that is something that reacts with a base!

In solution, acids create ions that have an electron shortage, and so they are looking for an electron to pair up with. Bases have free electrons, so react with acids.

Not all bases are alkali – most of the common bases are alkali though. It’s hard to explain the difference because there are different definitions of alkali, and they don’t match!