A solvent is the component designated as the medium of a chemical solution, commonly the component present in greatest proportion. Water is a common solvent, not a necessary one. A mixture of mostly ethanol with a little water can designate ethanol as solvent and water as solute. Chemical solutions can also be gas or solid mixtures; molecular nitrogen is the principal medium of ordinary well-mixed air. When proportions are comparable, state the convention explicitly.[ref]
The solvent is part of the final sample. Choosing it influences solubility and solvation; measuring its added volume alone does not determine the final chemical solution volume. Solvent and solute masses add in a closed account, whereas the final volume should be measured rather than inferred by adding pre-mixing volumes.
A solvent containing an appropriate proton-donating group, often an O–H or N–H group. It can hydrogen bond, shuttle protons and quench strongly basic organometallic reagents.
A polar solvent lacking an acidic hydrogen-bond-donor group. Relative to strongly protic solvation, it can leave anionic nucleophiles more reactive, while counterion and solubility effects still matter.

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  1. Solution (chemistry)
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