The other part of the compound is called the acid radical. A typical metal-acid reaction occurs when zinc is placed in a solution of sulfuric acid. The strongest acids are the mineral, or inorganic, acids. These include sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and hydrochloric acid. More important to life are hundreds of weaker organic acids.
Basic solutions have a characteristic brackish taste.
The hydroxides of metals are metal compounds that have the hydroxyl group, and they are bases. Hydroxides of the metals lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, and cesium have the special name of alkalies. The oxides of beryllium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, and barium are called alkaline earths. A basic solution is also called an alkaline solution. These descriptions help explain why acids and bases react so readily with each other.