Question

In ocean water, is salt a solvent or a solute?

Answer 1

Hint: The two ions that are present most often in seawater are chloride and sodium. These two make up over $ 90\% $ of all dissolved ions in seawater. The concentration of salt in seawater is about $ 35 $ parts per thousand. Let’s see what solute and solvent is. Solvent is the substance in which a solute dissolves to produce a homogeneous mixture. And solute is the substance that dissolves in a solvent to produce a homogeneous mixture.

Complete answer:
A solution is a special type of homogeneous mixture composed of two or more substances. In such a mixture, a solute is a substance dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent. The mixing process of a solution happens at a scale where the effects of chemical polarity are involved, resulting in interactions that are specific to solvation.
Ocean water is a homogenous mixture of salt in water. It contains about three percent sodium chloride. Ocean water is the type of mixture called a solution, because the salt is dissolved in the water. Water is the solvent, and sodium chloride is the solute. The solvent is the substance which typically determines the physical state of the solution. The solute is the substance which is dissolved by the solvent. In a $ NaCl $ solution, the salt is the solute. An aqueous solution is a solution in which water is the solvent. A sodium chloride solution is an aqueous solution. A non-aqueous solution is a solution in which water is not the solvent.

Note:
The ability of one compound to dissolve in another compound is called solubility. When a liquid can completely dissolve in another liquid the two liquids are miscible. Two substances that can never mix to form a solution are said to be immiscible. All solutions have a positive entropy of mixing.