Question

In aqueous solutions, the solvent used is:

• A. Benzene
• B. Ether
• C. Alcohol
• D. Water

Hint:

Water is the most common solvent used in aqueous solutions, as it can dissolve a wide range of substances.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Think of everyday examples labeled aqueous: saline solution used in medicine, or sugar syrup made at home. Both are made by dissolving something in one specific liquid.

1. Benzene: saline is never made with benzene, since benzene does not mix with the salt or dissolve it the way water does.
2. Ether: sugar syrup is not made with ether either, since ether is used in organic chemistry labs, not in the kitchen or in medical saline.
3. Alcohol: alcohol is sometimes used as a solvent for other purposes, like tinctures, but plain saline and sugar syrup are not described as alcohol-based aqueous solutions.
4. Water: both saline and sugar syrup use plain water as the solvent, which is exactly why they are described as aqueous.

Since aqueous examples like saline and sugar syrup are always water-based, the correct answer is water.

Answer 2

Judge each option by its polarity, since like dissolves like, and only a strongly polar solvent explains why the word aqueous refers to just one specific liquid.

1. Benzene: benzene is non-polar, so it dissolves non-polar substances well but cannot form the strong attractions needed for many common solutes, and it is never called the aqueous solvent.
2. Ether: ether has only weak polarity, better suited to non-polar and moderately polar solutes, not to the ionic and polar solutes typically discussed in aqueous chemistry.
3. Alcohol: alcohol is polar and can dissolve many substances, but it is still a distinct solvent from water, with its own name for solutions made in it, not aqueous.
4. Water: water is strongly polar and forms hydrogen bonds easily, letting it dissolve a huge range of ionic and polar compounds. This strong dissolving power is why water alone earns the specific term aqueous.

Water's strong polarity is what makes it the one solvent whose solutions are called aqueous, so that is the correct answer.