What property of water allows water to work as a universal solvent?

The water is universal solvent because it is a polar molecule.This have hydrogen bonding in which hydrogen molecule have positive charge and oxygen molecule have negative charge because electro negativity of oxygen molecule is higher than hydrogen molecule that is why it pull the hydrogen molecule and formed a polar molecule.That is why is also known as universal solvent.

in 1783 cavendish was working with his hydrogen gas and found that when he burned it and condensed the vapor it was water. this was very significant since it disproved the greek theory of elements completely since water was not a simple substance but the product of two gases. it was lavoisier who hearing of the experiment gave cavendish's gas the name hydrogen ("water-producer") and added that hydrogen burned by combining with oxygen and that water was a hydrogen-oxygen combination.

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