Water as a Solvent

What is Water as a Solvent?

Water dissolves many biological substances, forming solutions in which those substances can be transported around an organism, react with one another, or be removed from the body. Digested food, plasma solutes such as glucose and urea, and mineral ions in xylem sap all travel dissolved in water; substances that do not dissolve in water require other transport arrangements.

This definition is part of the Movement Into and Out of Cells chapter in Cambridge O Level Biology.

Concepts related to Water as a Solvent

• solute
• solution
• blood plasma
• xylem sap