What is the term for a liquid's resistance to flow?

The term for a liquid's resistance to flow is shear viscosity. Shear viscosity is a measure of how much a fluid resists deformation under shear stress, which is the force that causes one layer of fluid to slide past another. When a liquid has high shear viscosity, it flows more slowly and requires more force to move it. This property is crucial in applications like aerial application because it affects how easily the liquid can be sprayed and how uniformly it can cover a target area.

Other terms in the choices refer to different physical properties. Surface tension, for instance, relates to the cohesive forces acting at the surface of a liquid, affecting how droplets form and behave. Density refers to the mass of a substance per unit volume, influencing how heavy a liquid is but not its flow characteristics. Fluid dynamics is the study of how fluids move and behave under various forces, encompassing a wide range of principles, but it does not specifically denote the resistance to flow of a liquid. The focus on shear viscosity recognizes its direct relevance to the flow behavior needed for practical applications like aerial spraying.