alleryStart learning →Cohesive forces cause a liquid's surface to contract to the smallest possible:
AInternal pressure
BSurface area
CTotal volume
DMolecular mass
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. Surface area
1. Surface tension follows from cohesion among like molecules.
2. Cohesive forces act between molecules of the same type.
3. They cause the surface of a liquid to contract to the smallest possible surface area.
4. That contraction is what surface tension describes.
_Source: OpenStax College Physics for AP Courses 2e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 11 'Fluid Statics', sections 11.1-11.9_
Keep practising Fluid Statics
Browse all Fluid Statics questions for AP Physics 1, or explore more Physics topics.
Related questions
Complete the fluid rulesTap what belongs to each ideaTrue or false: fluid staticsWork the pressure arithmeticMatch each fluid termTwo objects have equal mass but one has twice the volume. Its density is:Pressure in a fluid rises with depth, which is why a container's bottom supports:Water beads up on a waxed car but spreads on bare paint because of the balance between: