What is meant by the phrase "water is the universal solvent?"

1 Answer
Jun 1, 2018

Because MOST stuff dissolves in water....to greater or lesser extent...

Explanation:

Because MOST stuff dissolves in water....to a GREATER or LESSER degree. And we can think of some solutes: dioxygen; dinitrogen; most salts of simple ions with a unit charge; many salts with charges greater than unity...

As an inorganic chemist, most of the time you have to take a lot of care to dry both your solvents and your solutes.. The molecular mass of water, means that only a small mass of water corresponds to A LARGE molar quantity...