Solutos

In chemistry, a solute is the substance dissolved in a solvent to form a solution. The solute is typically present in a smaller amount than the solvent, but this is not a strict rule; a solution can have a solute in large proportion, as in a highly concentrated syrup. Solutes can be solids, liquids, or gases, and they interact with solvent molecules through various forces such as hydrogen bonding, ion-dipole interactions, or dispersion forces.

Solubility describes how much solute can dissolve in a given amount of solvent at a specified temperature and pressure. A solution may be unsaturated, saturated, or supersaturated depending on whether additional solute can dissolve. Common concentration measures include molarity, molality, mass percentage, and mole fraction.

Solutes may be electrolytes, which dissociate into ions in solution, or non-electrolytes, which do not. Dissolution is often accompanied by solvation, in which solvent molecules surround and stabilize the dissolved species. Gas solutes follow different behavior: according to Henry's law, their solubility generally decreases with increasing temperature and increases with higher partial pressures.

Factors affecting solubility include temperature, pressure (notably for gases), solvent–solute polarity, and the presence of other dissolved substances (which can cause effects such as the common-ion effect or precipitation).

Applications span chemistry, biology, medicine, environmental science, and industry. Common examples include table salt in water, sugar in tea, carbon dioxide dissolving in beverages, and salts or electrolytes in biological fluids.

Note: The term solutos is not standard in English; the conventional plural is solutes. In other languages, adaptations may exist.