Azriela

 __  Why is water considered the universal solvent? __

Water's polarity can break ionic bonds and dissolve ionic compounds; this reaction follows the rule like dissolves like. Water isn't only limited to dissolving ionic compounds, but it can also dissolve acids and bases. Acids and bases can dissolve solutions with the same pH, but since water has a neutral pH, it can dissolve all acids and bases.

When hydrogen bonds with oxygen, it forms two types of intermolecular forces, hydrogen bonding and a dipole reaction. Water is a polar covalent compound. The hydrogen and oxygen atoms in water share valence electrons because oxygen has a higher electronegativity than hydrogen but not strong enough to completely take hydrogen's valence electrons, so they orbit around both atoms.

Although the atoms share electrons, they spend most of their time orbiting oxygen giving it a slightly negative charge and hydrogen a slightly positive charge creating a dipole. The dipole is represented as an arrow with the head pointing to the negative atom, and the end pointing toward the positive.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_makes_water_the_universal_solvent

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