A solvent is something that a solute is dissolved into.

For example, if you remember that water is

the universal solvent, it will be easy to remember which part of a mixture is the solvent and that the
solute is something like salt or sugar that is dissolved into it. Solution = solvent + solute.
A non-volatile substance refers to a substance that does not readily evaporate into a gas under
existing conditions. Sugar and salt are examples of non-volatile solutes.
A volatile substance is one that evaporates or sublimates at room temperature or below..
Examples of volatile substances include alcohol, mercury, and gasoline.

Activity 1 : How can we obtain coloured compound (dye) from blue/black ink? 

 Fill half a beaker with water.

 Put a watch glass on the mouth of the beaker
 Put few drops of ink on the watch glass.
 Now start heating the beaker. We do not want to heat the ink directly. You will
see that evaporation is taking place from the watch glass.
 Continue heating as the evaporation goes on and stop heating when you do not
see any further change on the watch glass.
 Observe carefully and record your observations.
 Fig.1

We find that ink is a mixture of a dye in water. Thus, we can separate the volatile
component (solvent) from its non-volatile solute by the method of evaporation.