Re: WHY DO THINGS DISSOLVE IN WATER ?

If you could shrink 'way down and look at a single water molecule, you
would find that it is made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.
They are arranged in a V-shape, with the oxygen at the point.  The result
of this shape is that there is more negative charge at one end of the
molecule than the other (oxygen likes to have negative charge).  We call 
this a POLAR molecule.

Other polar molecules like salt and sugar and Kool-aid will dissolve in
water because the water molecule will be attracted to their charged ends.
The water molecule likes their charges so much that it will actually
surround the salt or sugar molecules, so that each one looks like a ball
of water molecules.  We call this SOLVATION.  Since the salt molecule
is surrounded now by water, it can't stick to other salt molecules, so
it just sort of floats away.

And that, dear Linda, is how things dissolve.