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Chemistry vocabulary · Solutions and Concentration

Solvent

Meaning in chemistry, with examples

/ˈsɒlvənt/nounCore term

In chemistry, solvent means: The substance, usually a liquid, that dissolves another substance to form a solution. Water is the most common one; ethanol, acetone and hexane are widely used organic ones.

In Turkish: çözücü

How it is used

Used daily in synthesis and analysis. You choose, add, evaporate, remove or recover a solvent, and chemists distinguish polar from nonpolar solvents. 'Dry solvent' means water-free, and used solvent goes into solvent waste.

Example sentences

  1. Remove the solvent on the rotary evaporator before you weigh the product.

  2. Water is a poor solvent for oils because it is highly polar.

Common collocations

  • organic solvent
  • polar solvent
  • remove the solvent
  • solvent waste
  • dry solvent
  • soluteThe substance that gets dissolved in a solvent to make a solution. In salt water, the salt plays this role and the water is the solvent.
  • solutionA uniform mixture in which one substance (the solute) is completely dissolved in another (the solvent). Salt water and sugar dissolved in tea are everyday examples.
  • solubilityThe maximum amount of a substance that can dissolve in a given amount of solvent at a certain temperature, often given in grams per 100 g of water.
  • polarDescribes a bond or molecule in which electrons are shared unevenly, so that one end is slightly negative and the other slightly positive. Water is a typical example.
  • distillationA method of separating or purifying liquids by boiling a mixture and cooling the vapor so that it condenses and is collected separately. It relies on differences in boiling point.

More terms: Solutions and Concentration

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