Effect of Gravity is Neutralised:

If you place a drop of oil on a water surface, you will observe that the oil drop is unable to maintain its spherical shape and it spreads over the surface of water. Could you guess why does it happen? If you are thinking that it is caused due to difference in the values of the surface tensions of the two (oil and water) liquids, you are correct. The surface tension of oil is much less than that of water. The greater tension of water surface stretches the oil surface in all directions and oil drop spreads on the water surface.

You know from the above discussion which, because of surface tension, a liquid tends to have minimum surface area. At this level, an obvious question is: What happens while the surface area of a liquid is increased? This question can be answered in terms of the work done or the surface energy of the liquid surface. You will learn it now.