How do hydrogen bonds give liquid water unusually high surface tension and viscosity?

The water molecule is polar because the oxygen atom has a higher electronegativity than the hydrogen atoms, resulting in a partial negative charge on the oxygen and partial positive charges on the hydrogens. This polarity allows water molecules to form hydrogen bonds, where the hydrogen atom of one molecule is attracted to the unshared electron pair of an oxygen atom on an adjacent molecule.12

In the liquid state, water consists of aggregates of molecules that continually form and re-form these linkages. This short-range order creates strong intermolecular attractions that are significantly more robust than those found in many other liquids. These cohesive forces are responsible for water's unusually high viscosity and surface tension. Specifically, surface tension arises because molecules at the surface are attracted inward by the hydrogen bonds of the surrounding molecules, causing the surface to act like a stretched elastic membrane.134