It is a known fact that alkali is a base that is soluble in water and is a substance that produces hydroxide ions (OH-) in aqueous solutions. Now there are some oxides as well which come under the category of alkalis, such as Na₂O. But, oxides don't give OH- ions in an aqueous solution which is logical as they don't have any hydrogen atoms. Then why do we classify oxides as alkali when they don't dissociate to give OH- ions?
