Surface tension is the inward pull that tends to minimize the surface area of a liquid. Water has high surface tension because of hydrogen bonding. In the diagram below, consider a molecule within the bulk of the liquid. This molecule experiences attractions to its neighboring molecules in all directions. These forces, shown by the arrows, average out to zero and there is no net force on the molecule. How is the situation different for a molecule at the surface? How does this give rise to surface tension?