Solvation

Imagine you're at a crowded party, trying to get to the snack table on the other side of the room. Just as people at the party naturally move around and interact with you, either helping or hindering your path, solvent molecules surround and interact with solute molecules to facilitate or impede their movement. In this analogy, you represent the solute molecule trying to reach its destination, while the people at the party are the solvent molecules creating an environment that dictates how easily you can move through the crowd, just as solvents influence how solutes dissolve.