What is responsible for capillary action, a property of liquids?
a. surface tension
b. cohesive forces
c. adhesive forces
d. viscosity
e. two of these choices are correct.?

e. two of these choices are correct (b) cohesive and c) adhesive)

Explanation:

Capillary action is essentially the rise of liquids through a narrow tube (region) called as a capillary. There are several forces that come into play in the context of capillary action.

If we consider a liquid like for example, water, then the cohesive forces are responsible for holding the water molecules together (intermolecular attractive force) while the adhesive forces acts between the water molecule and the walls of the capillary (force of attraction between unlike molecules). Surface tension can be defined as the energy required to increase the surface area of a liquid due to the cohesive forces. When adhesive forces become greater than the cohesive forces, the liquid tends to rise up a narrow tube . Thus, both adhesive and cohesive forces are responsible for capillary action.