Which of the following properties of water is shown here (a steel paper clip floating on water)?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The scenario shows a steel paper clip resting on the surface of water without sinking, which points to a property of water that enables light objects to be supported at the air–water interface.
Since the options are not listed, I’ll focus on the provided answer: Surface tension. Water molecules are cohesive and pull on each other stronger at the surface, creating a tight, elastic-like skin known as the surface tension. This cohesive force can support small, dense objects like a steel paper clip if the object is placed gently and lies flat on the surface, reducing the disturbance to the meniscus.
Now, why this is the right explanation: first, density alone would cause the clip to sink because steel is much denser than water; buoyancy from displacement would need a larger volume to counteract that weight, which a small clip does not provide. Second, surface tension acts along the surface and can provide an upward force at the interface, effectively “supporting” the clip against gravity when the contact between clip and water is favorable and the surface is not overwhelmed by movement. Third, the appearance of a curved water surface around the clip (a meniscus) is a hallmark of surface tension effects at a liquid–air boundary.
If there were alternative options such as 'buoyancy' or 'density difference' alone, those would be incomplete explanations for a dense object floating merely due to surface tension, because without surface tension, the clip would rapidly sink. Likewise, a choice focusing only on 'adhesion' would miss the essential cohesive surface effect that makes surface tension the correct property here.
In summary, the ability of the clip to float on the water surface in this image is best attributed to surface tension, the cohesive force at the air–water interface that can support small, light-footed objects when placed carefully.

2025 T1 DP DPST1051 BLSC1342 Molecules, Cells & Genes

Which of the following properties of water is shown here (a steel paper clip floating on water)?

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