Question

Why is water a good solvent?

Answer 1

Hint: Water has the ability of dissolving a variety of different substances. As it dissolves more substances than any other liquid, water is called a “universal solvent". This feature enables the water molecule to be attracted to a wide range of other molecules. The chemical composition and physical structure of water is responsible for making it an excellent solvent.

Complete explanation:
Water molecules are made up of oxygen and hydrogen atoms. The hydrogen has a positive electrical charge and the oxygen has a negative electrical charge. This unequal charge distribution in a water molecule leads to it having greater electronegativity. This phenomenon is called the polarity property of water.
Due to its polarity, water can form electrostatic interactions with other polar molecules and ions. The partially positive and negative ends of water attract the negative and positive ends of the polar molecules or ions respectively. In an aqueous solution, when there are many water molecules than solute molecules, these interactions lead to the formation of a hydration shell around the solute. Hydration shell simply means the three-dimensional structure of water. This shell allows the solute particles to be evenly dispersed in water.
Due to this even dispersion many ions or polar molecules can easily dissolve in water.

Note:
Nonpolar molecules like fats and oils do not interact with water and also cannot form hydration shells. The nonpolar molecules lack the regions of partial positive or partial negative charge and hence they are not electrostatically attracted towards water. Therefore, when water and nonpolar molecules are mixed, instead of dissolving, nonpolar substances stay separate and form layers or droplets.