Basic Material

A chemical expression meaning the opposite of acid. Basic and acid materials, when brought together so that they can react, neutralize each other, forming salts or slags. The base becomes the positive part of the salt and the acid the negative. Typical basic materials include limestone, magnesite and dolomite while typical acid materials include quartzite or silica, various clays, oxides of sulfur, etc. In metallurgy, the term “bases” and “acids” are applied to refractories, fluxes and slags. Slags are said to be basic when the bases in them are greater than the acids, or to be acidic when the acids in them are greater than the bases.