H 2 SO 4 is sulfuric acid. HNO 3 is nitric acid. HCl is hydrochloric acid. One form of base is called an alkali. This is a combination of the hydroxyl radical with an alkali metal.
Salts are compounds that result when the hydrogen of an acid is replaced by a metallic element.
Such a compound does not have a hydroxyl radical. The more active, or stronger, ones enter into combinations more readily than others. They also displace less active, or weaker, ones from compounds in which either could be a part. The following list shows 21 metallic elements and hydrogen, which acts like a metal in electrolytic processes. Gold Elements above hydrogen are more active chemically than those below and are rarely found free in nature.