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

$A$ $U$-shaped wire is dipped in a soap solution and removed. The thin soap film formed between the wire and the light slider supports a weight of $1.5 \times 10^{-2} \; N$ (which includes the small weight of the slider). The length of the slider is $30 \; cm$. What is the surface tension of the film?

$Assertion :$ $A$ large force is required to draw apart two glass plates enclosing a thin water film.
$Reason :$ Water acts as a glue and sticks the two glass plates together.

$A$ rectangular film of liquid is expanded from $(5 \text{ cm} \times 4 \text{ cm})$ to $(7 \text{ cm} \times 8 \text{ cm})$. If the work done is $3 \times 10^{-4} \text{ J}$,the surface tension of the liquid is (nearly):

It is easier to spray water to which soap is added because the addition of soap to water:

$A$ wire of length $10 \text{ cm}$ is gently placed horizontally on the surface of water having surface tension of $75 \times 10^{-3} \text{ N/m}$. What force is required to just pull up the wire from the water surface?