Answer: acetone molecule ( CH₃-CO-CH₃)
Explanation:
1) Acetone is CH₃-CO-CH₃
2) That is a molecule (build up of covalent bonds).
3) When dissolved, covalent bonded compounds remain as separate molecules, then it is said that the major species present in the solution is the molecule. The molecules of acetone are surrounded (sovated) by the molecules of water.
This as opposed to the case of ionic compounds that ionize. When a compound as NaCl dissolves in water, it ionizes completely, so the major speceies are not NaCl formulas, but the ions Na⁺ and Cl⁻, not molecules.
That leads to the answer: the major species present when acetone is dissolved in water is the molecules of acetone (you do not need to state the fact that the molecules of water are part of the solution, because that is not the target of the question).
