What physical property allows water to flow, puddle, and maintain cohesion after leaving a nozzle?

The correct choice is associated with surface tension, which is a physical property that allows water to maintain its cohesion even as it flows and pools after exiting a nozzle. Surface tension arises from the cohesive forces between liquid molecules, causing them to be attracted more strongly to each other than to the air above. This cohesive bond enables water to form droplets and puddles, effectively allowing it to retain its shape and resist external forces to a certain degree.

When water leaves a nozzle, surface tension contributes to the formation of a stable flow and can also lead to the development of droplets. The balance between the cohesive forces of surface tension and the gravitational forces acting on the water governs how it behaves after it exits the nozzle, which is why you observe the characteristic flow and puddling.

Other properties like viscosity, density, and capillarity, while relevant in different contexts, do not primarily account for the behavior of water in this particular situation. Viscosity pertains to the internal friction within the fluid affecting its flow rate, density relates to mass per unit volume, and capillarity involves the ability of water to rise or fall in a small space due to adhesive forces with surrounding materials, none of which directly address the cohesion and puddling effect after the water has left the