Liquid surface tension has a straightforward definition with a dramatic job description: it’s the force that politely stops a liquid from flinging itself off into the universe.
Measuring it, however, is far less straightforward. There are multiple ways to quantify surface tension, and they can quickly turn an easy concept into a small maze of methods. To bring some order to the chaos, this article focuses on two main measurement approaches: drop-based techniques and force-based techniques.
