Question

Differences between organic and inorganic solvents.

Answer 1

1. Organic solvents always contain the element carbon. Inorganic solvents don’t contain the element carbon. The most common solvent, water, is an example of an inorganic solvent. There are many more organic solvents than inorganic solvents.

2. Using the adage “like dissolves like” is helpful in determining solubility characteristics of a compound in a given solvent. For example, paraffin wax would dissolve in a hydrocarbon solvent such as cyclohexane, because they are both hydrocarbons. Paraffin wax would not dissolve in a polar solvent such as water.
(Note: Organic compounds are non-polar that's why they are soluble in a non-polar solvent while inorganic are mostly polar so they are soluble in a polar solvent.)

3. Depends on the polarity of the compound to be dissolved and the polarity of the organic solvent. For example, the polar organic compound benzoic acid has much more solubility in ethanol (a polar organic solvent) than cyclohexane (a nonpolar organic solvent).

4. An example of an organic solvent would be Ethanol, Acetone, Benzene, Octane, etc.
Examples of inorganic solvents are Water, liquid Ammonia.