alkaline
(adjective)
having a pH greater than 7; basic
Examples of alkaline in the following topics:
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pH, Buffers, Acids, and Bases
- The pH of a solution indicates its acidity or basicity (alkalinity).
- The pH scale is an inverse logarithm that ranges from 0 to 14: anything below 7.0 (ranging from 0.0 to 6.9) is acidic, and anything above 7.0 (from 7.1 to 14.0) is basic (or alkaline).
- An example of a weak basic solution is seawater, which has a pH near 8.0, close enough to neutral that well-adapted marine organisms thrive in this alkaline environment.
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Growth of Bone
- In this zone, lipids, glycogen, and alkaline phosphatase accumulate, causing the cartilaginous matrix to calcify.
- The next zone is the zone of maturation and hypertrophy where lipids, glycogen, and alkaline phosphatase accumulate, causing the cartilaginous matrix to calcify.
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Male Reproductive Anatomy
- The glands make a solution that is thick, yellowish, and alkaline.
- As sperm are only motile in an alkaline environment, a basic pH is important to reverse the acidity of the vaginal environment.
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Nitrogenous Waste in Terrestrial Animals: The Urea Cycle
- Dissolved in water, it is neither acidic nor alkaline.
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Hormonal Responses to Food
- In order to neutralize the acidic chyme, a hormone called secretin stimulates the pancreas to produce alkaline bicarbonate solution and deliver it to the duodenum.
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Characteristics of Eukaryotic DNA
- Eukaryotic DNA is packed into bundles of chromosomes, each consisting of a linear DNA molecule coiled around basic (alkaline) proteins called histones, which wind the DNA into a more compact form.
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Digestive System: Small and Large Intestines
- The alkaline solution is rich in bicarbonate that neutralizes the acidity of chyme and acts as a buffer.
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Extremophiles and Biofilms
- For example, a soda lake is both salty and alkaline, so organisms that live in a soda lake must be both alkaliphiles and halophiles.