Surface Tension

When a bucket is filled with water and left for a few days in an open place, it will be observed that the surface of the water will be covered with particles of stretched skin, likewise, when water is dropping slowly from a tap, it first forms a bubble before bursting.

Also, a needle rubbed with oil or grease can be made to float on the surface of water if placed gently and the oil will form a film on the surface of the water like a stretched elastic skin showing that there is a force or tension along the surface of the water and this force is referred to as surface tension.

Surface tension is the ratio of tangential force, F, in the surface of a liquid to the length along which the force acts. It is the force that acts along the surface of a liquid and causes the liquid surface to behave like a stretched elastic skin.

or

Surface tension is a phenomenon in which the surface of a liquid behaves/acts as if it is covered by an elastic skin.

Therefore,