Cohesion describes water's
attraction to other substances
attraction to itself
ability to dissolve most substances
rate of cooling and heating

Cohesion describes water’s attraction to itself. Cohesive forces that occur in liquid makes intermolecular forces resist separation. Cohesion usually occurs when a liquid comes in contact with a surface. The cohesive force governs the shape which the liquid mimics. If cohesive force is too strong, the liquid can divide into small numbers of spherical beads that stand on the surface while maintaining minimal contact with the surface.

Another type of liquid force is adhesive force. An example of this is when you see liquid on a surface that is spread out to form a thin and relatively uniform film over the surface. This process is called wetting.