As water droplets combine to form a larger drop,

Step-by-step solution

When n small droplets of radius r combine to form a single large drop of radius R , the total volume remains constant. 4 3 R^3 = n 4 3 r^3 R = n^ 1/3 r The initial total surface area is A_i = n 4 r^2 . The final surface area is A_f = 4 R^2 = 4 n^ 2/3 r^2 . Since n > n^ 2/3 for n > 1 , the total surface area decreases ( A_f Surface energy is directly proportional to the surface area ( U = T A , where T is surface tension). As the surface area decreases, the total surface energy of the system decreases. This loss in