[szemet]

> Water is ... a mild solvent

I remember, when I was a child I asked my parents (both are chemists), about what the most powerful solvent is. To my suprise they answered: water.

Wow, that can be true, it is everywhere, I tought...

It is somewhat a point of view question, considering that there are different categories of solvents - it is like asking a biologist about the most dangerous animal: human - of course! But that can't be true, humans are everywhere and I'm still alive.

These kind of suprises happens if you do not specify the questions exactly (Dangerous to what and how? Solving exactly what kind of things?)

edit: it is natural to think, that something is mild and friedly (in general) - if you are made of that...

[giantrobot]

I called water a "mild" solvent because it's not so reactive as to instantly destroy everything in its path. But in terms of solubility water can act as a solvent for more molecules than anything else (if I remember high school chemistry correctly). This makes it a great medium for moving solutes around and facilitating interesting chemistry.

[szemet]

> I called water a "mild" solvent because it's not so reactive as to instantly destroy everything in its path.

Ok. But I guess the proper common terminology would be "corrosives" for those.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrosive_substance