In chemistry, an alkali (from Arabic: Al-Qaly القلي, القالي )'s a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal element. Alkalis are best known for being bases that dissolve in water. Bases are compounds with a pH greater than 7. The adjective alkaline's commonly used in English as a synonym for base, especially for soluble bases. This broad use of the term's likely to have come about because alkalis were the first… (More on Alkali)