Follow these steps to make tea, while understanding the terms used in the process:
Start by boiling some water in a kettle. Water acts as the solvent in this process, which will dissolve the tea leaves or tea bag.
Once the water reaches boiling point, add the tea leaves (the solute) to the water. Tea leaves are soluble in hot water, meaning they will dissolve and impart color, flavor, and aroma to the water.
Let the tea leaves dissolve in the hot water for a few minutes. As the tea leaves dissolve, they release their color and flavor into the water, forming a solution.
After brewing, strain the tea to separate the residue (the solid tea leaves or tea bag) from the liquid tea. The liquid that passes through the strainer is called the filtrate, which is the final tea.
Now, the filtrate is your ready-to-serve tea, which you can pour into a cup. The residue consists of the tea leaves, which are insoluble in water and do not dissolve.
In this process, the hot water (solvent) dissolves the tea leaves (solute), forming a solution. The insoluble tea leaves are separated as residue using a strainer, and the liquid that passes through is the filtrate.