Epäemäksiset

Epäemäksiset is a Finnish term used to describe substances that are not alkaline or basic. It serves as the negative counterpart to emäksiset (alkaline, basic) and is used mainly in chemistry, soil science, and mineralogy. In practice, epäemäksiset includes both acidic substances and neutral ones, since they do not exhibit the basic properties characteristic of emäksiset.

In chemical terms, bases are substances that can accept protons or release hydroxide ions. Substances that do not display these base properties are considered epäemäksiset. The pH concept underlines this distinction: bases typically have pH above 7, while acids have pH below 7; neutral substances have pH around 7 and are also encompassed by epäemäksiset in a broad sense.

In Finnish soil and rock classification, emäksiset refers to alkaline materials with higher pH, whereas epäemäksiset describes soils and rocks that are neutral or acidic. However, the term epäemäksiset is less common in modern usage, where more specific terms such as hapanta (acidic) or hapanta/hapan and hapeton (neutral) are preferred.

Examples of epäemäksiset yhdisteet (non-alkaline compounds) include acids like hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4), as well as neutral substances such as water (H2O) and many salts that do not confer basic properties. The category is largely a linguistic and classificatory convenience rather than a distinct chemical class.

See also: pH, acid, base, alkaline, hapanta, hapeton.