Question

Water is often called the "universal solvent" because many substances can be dissolved in water. What property of water allows it to be such a versatile solvent?

Answer 1

Water is a versatile solvent because it dissolves more substances than any other liquid. As a polar molecule, with the oxygen side having a negative charge and the hydrogen side having a positive charge, water can bind to ions and other polar molecules, dissolving them.

Answer 2

My guess would be because it is a polar molecule. The oxygen and hydrogen don't share their electrons equally; oxygen has some electrons more often than hydrogen. Therefore, the molecules have a negative side(the oxygen) and a position side(the hydrogens).They use this polarity to dissemble other compounds that are put into it that are also polar, such as Sodium Chloride.