Solvent - Solutions and Solvation

Solutions and Solvation

When one substance is dissolved into another, a solution is formed. This is opposed to the situation when the compounds are insoluble like sand in water. In solution, all of the ingredients are uniformly distributed at a molecular level and no residue remains. The mixing is referred to as miscibility, whereas the ability to dissolve one compound into another is known as solubility. However, in addition to mixing, both substances in the solution interact with each other. When something is dissolved, molecules of the solvent arrange themselves around molecules of the solute. Heat is involved and entropy is increased making the solution more thermodynamically stable than the solute alone. This arrangement is mediated by the respective chemical properties of the solvent and solute, such as hydrogen bonding, dipole moment and polarizability.