Pippa Corbett answered
A solvent is something that can be dissolved in liquid, whereas a solute is simply the liquid that a substances is dissolved in.
What is a solvent? What is a solute?
This question really brings me back to the days of chemistry classes and lab experiments while wearing protective eye-wear.
Luckily, you don't even need a white lab coat to work out what a solvent and a solute are - as combining a solvent and a solute creates something known as a 'solution'.
So these terms apply to any two substances which can combine together and form a homogeneous substance (a substance that doesn't have any bits floating about in it).
Example of solvents and solutes
The most obvious example of a solution is saline solution, which is simply made by combining hot water (h20) and sodium chloride (Na+Cl).
In this chemical equation, sodium chloride is the solvent because it is the chemical that is dissolved, and water is the solute because it absorbs the solvent.
Therefore, any two substances which form a homogeneous substance when combined can be said to enjoy a solvent-solute relationship.
What is a solvent? What is a solute?
This question really brings me back to the days of chemistry classes and lab experiments while wearing protective eye-wear.
Luckily, you don't even need a white lab coat to work out what a solvent and a solute are - as combining a solvent and a solute creates something known as a 'solution'.
So these terms apply to any two substances which can combine together and form a homogeneous substance (a substance that doesn't have any bits floating about in it).
Example of solvents and solutes
The most obvious example of a solution is saline solution, which is simply made by combining hot water (h20) and sodium chloride (Na+Cl).
In this chemical equation, sodium chloride is the solvent because it is the chemical that is dissolved, and water is the solute because it absorbs the solvent.
Therefore, any two substances which form a homogeneous substance when combined can be said to enjoy a solvent-solute relationship.