Capillary action is the tendency of a liquid to rise or fall in a narrow tube. Two main terms are required to explain capillary action; adhesion and cohesion.
Cohesion is the force of attraction between molecules of the same kind while adhesion is the force of attraction between molecules of different kinds.
Forces of adhesion causes water to move up in a capillary tube. The water is held as it rises by surface tension forces acting on the circumference of the meniscus. The water keeps rising in the tube until the weight of the water drawn up in the tube balances the surface tension acting at the top column of the water.
