Final answer:
Strong bases typically participate in acid-base reactions where they neutralize acids to form water and salts. They are characterized by their ability to fully dissociate in solution and efficiently attract protons from acids.
Step-by-step explanation:
Strong bases tend to engage in acid-base reactions, where they react with acids to produce water and a salt. The hydroxide ions (OH−) from strong bases like LiOH, NaOH, KOH, Ca(OH)2, and Ba(OH)2 accept protons from acids resulting in the formation of water. In these reactions, the proton always reacts with the stronger base, implying that strong bases can capture the proton from weaker acids to produce water. An example of this is the reaction of hydrochloric acid (a strong acid) with NaOH, where the acid ionizes completely to form H3O+ and Cl−, while NaOH fully dissociates to provide OH− that reacts with H3O+ to produce water.
This type of reaction is central not only in industrial chemistry but also in biochemistry, with daily life examples including products like aspirin or antacids. Aside from these neutralization reactions, strong bases are also involved in oxidation-reduction reactions (redox reactions), although this is context-dependent and may involve other species in the reaction mixture.