A bee sting causes an acidic reaction on the skin. What type of substance should be applied to relieve the pain, and why? Name the substance traditionally found in the leaves of the dock plant that serves this purpose.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-26 01:04 · grounding rag
Model Answer
A base (alkali) should be applied to relieve the pain, because bee sting is acidic in nature. A base neutralises the acid, providing relief. This is a neutralisation reaction.
The substance traditionally found in the leaves of the dock plant is baking soda (sodium hydrogencarbonate).
(Note: The dock plant leaves naturally contain an alkaline/basic substance that neutralises the acid of the bee sting.)
Source: Chapter 2, Introduction / Acids, Bases and Salts
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Explanation
- The key concept here is neutralisation — an acid is neutralised by a base.
- Examiners expect you to identify: (1) the type of substance = base/alkali, (2) the reason = neutralisation, and (3) the name = baking soda / sodium hydrogencarbonate from dock plant leaves.
- The dock plant connection is a classic NCERT example from this chapter; remember it as a real-life application of neutralisation.
- Do not write "acid" as the remedy — that is a common mistake since bee sting is already acidic.