Dissolving
When a solid (the solute) mixes evenly into a liquid (the solvent), it makes a solution. Salt in water is a classic example.
Soluble or insoluble
Sugar and salt are soluble in water — they dissolve. Sand and oil are insoluble — they don't.
Getting it back
You can get a dissolved solid back by evaporating the liquid. The solid is left behind.
🔑 Key Terms
- Solute
- The thing being dissolved (e.g. salt).
- Solvent
- The liquid doing the dissolving (e.g. water).
- Solution
- The mixture you get after dissolving.
- Soluble
- Able to dissolve in a liquid.
Did you know?
The ocean has so much salt dissolved in it that if you spread it all on land, it would cover every continent in salt 150 metres deep!
Try it at home: Solubility test
- Get 4 small glasses of warm water.
- Try dissolving 1 spoon each of: salt, sugar, sand, flour.
- Stir for 30 seconds. Which dissolve? Which don't?