Question

explain how does a body attain a terminal velocity when it is dropped from rest in a viscous medium​

Answer 1

Answer:

The downward force due to gravity on the falling body equal to m g, m being the mass of the body. The force due toviscous drag on the body. This force of drags increases quadratically with thevelocity vof the body. ... Since the net force is zero, the body now moves with a constant velocity, called the terminal velocity.

Answer 2

The maximum constant velocity acquired by a body falling through a viscous medium is called the terminal velocity. It can be represented by the symbol $V_{T}$.

• When a body falls freely under gravity from rest through a viscous medium, three types of forces act on the body. They are

1. Gravitational force acting downwards
2. Upthrust (U) due to buoyancy
3. Viscous drag acting upwards

• The viscous force acts as a resistance to the motion of the body and acts in opposite direction.
• While falling, initially the body is accelerated in the downward direction, the upward force is less than the downward force.
• While moving downwards, the velocity of the sphere starts increasing.
• A stage is reached, where the net downward forces balance the upward force and
• hence the resultant force on the body becomes zero.
• It then moves down with a constant velocity.
• This constant velocity reached by the body under the free fall is known as its terminal velocity ($V_{T}$).