Why does water have a greater degree of surface tension than most other liquids?

Water molecules stick to each other because they can form what are called hydrogen bonds. The positively charged hydrogen atoms are attracted to the negatively charged oxygen atoms of other molecules. This stickiness means that a water molecule wants to be next to as many other water molecules as possible. so if you put something light on the surface of water, it might not be heavy enough to force the water molecules underneath it to separate.