It's sometimes said that water is a universal solvent. Do a little research in this term why do some people call it this? What aspect of its structure makes it a good solvent? If a "universal solvent" could dissolve anything what problems might you imagine that it would cause in everyday life?

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Chemistry

Emiliano Nelson

9 January, 17:25

It's sometimes said that water is a universal solvent. Do a little research in this term why do some people call it this? What aspect of its structure makes it a good solvent? If a "universal solvent" could dissolve anything what problems might you imagine that it would cause in everyday life?

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Sanders · Answer 1

Water is a very good solvent and it dissolves most substances that are not organic, like minerals etc. It is a very good solvent because it is polar. It has one positively charged end and one negatively charged and thus it can attract many molecules and even break up their bonds with other molecules; this results in dissolution. If there was truly a universal solvent, that would be first of all dangerous to humans since it would just dissolve us. It would be also dangerous to store and precious items could be lost within it since they would be dissolved.