Have you ever dissolved sugar in a cup of tea, or salt in warm water? When a substance dissolves in a liquid, it seems to disappear, but it is still there. If you were to taste the cup of tea or salty water, you would taste the sugar or salt. The mixture of salt and water is an example of a solution. Solutions are a special kind of mixture in which one substance dissolves in another substance. They do not make a compound; they make a solution. Solutions can be mixtures of solids, liquids, or gases. The substance that dissolves is called the solute. The substance in which the solute dissolves is called the solvent. Solvents can be water or any other substance which dissolves a solute. The solvent is the part of the solution that is in the greater quantity, and the solute is the smaller portion of the solution.
Liquid solutions are formed when solids, liquids, or gases dissolve in a liquid. Examples of solids dissolving in liquid solutions are when salt or sugar is dissolved in water. The salt or water is the solute and the water is the solvent. These are called solid-liquid solutions.
Parts of a Solution
In a solution of sugar water, which is the solute and which is the solvent?
The solvent is water and the solute is sugar.
