What causes the free surface of a liquid to have minimum area?

$A$ ring is cut from a platinum tube with an internal diameter of $8.5\, cm$ and an external diameter of $8.7\, cm$. It is supported horizontally from the pan of a balance so that it comes in contact with the water in a glass vessel. If an extra $3.97\, g$ weight is required to pull it away from the water,the surface tension of water is ......... $dyne\, cm^{-1}$.

The surface tension of a liquid at its boiling point

When liquid medicine of density $\rho$ is to be put in the eye, it is done with the help of a dropper. As the bulb on the top of the dropper is pressed, a drop forms at the opening of the dropper. We wish to estimate the size of the drop. We first assume that the drop formed at the opening is spherical because that requires a minimum increase in its surface energy. To determine the size, we calculate the net vertical force due to the surface tension $T$ when the radius of the drop is $R$. When the force becomes smaller than the weight of the drop, the drop gets detached from the dropper.
$1.$ If the radius of the opening of the dropper is $r$, the vertical force due to the surface tension on the drop of radius $R$ (assuming $r \ll R$) is
$(A)$ $2 \pi r T$ $(B)$ $2 \pi R T$ $(C)$ $\frac{2 \pi r^2 T}{R}$ $(D)$ $\frac{2 \pi R^2 T}{r}$
$2.$ If $r=5 \times 10^{-4} \, m, \rho=10^3 \, kg \, m^{-3}, g=10 \, m/s^2, T=0.11 \, Nm^{-1}$, the radius of the drop when it detaches from the dropper is approximately
$(A)$ $1.4 \times 10^{-3} \, m$ $(B)$ $3.3 \times 10^{-3} \, m$
$(C)$ $2.0 \times 10^{-3} \, m$ $(D)$ $4.1 \times 10^{-3} \, m$
$3.$ After the drop detaches, its surface energy is
$(A)$ $1.4 \times 10^{-6} \, J$ $(B)$ $2.7 \times 10^{-6} \, J$
$(C)$ $5.4 \times 10^{-6} \, J$ $(D)$ $8.1 \times 10^{-6} \, J$
Give the answer for questions $1, 2$ and $3.$

$A$ thin metal wire of density $\rho$ floats on the water surface horizontally. If it is $\text{NOT}$ to sink in water,then the maximum radius of the wire is proportional to $(T = \text{surface tension of water}, g = \text{gravitational acceleration})$.

Small liquid drops assume a spherical shape because