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ExamsJEE MainPhysics

A spherical ball attains terminal velocity v while falling through a viscous fluid. It is replaced by another ball of the same mass but half the radius (made of denser material). Neglecting buoyancy, what is the new terminal velocity?

  1. 2v
  2. 4v
  3. v
  4. 8v

Correct answer: 2v

Solution

Neglecting buoyancy, terminal velocity comes from mg = 6*pi*eta*r*vₜ, so vₜ = mg/(6*pi*eta*r). With the mass held fixed, vₜ is inversely proportional to the radius, so halving r doubles the terminal velocity.

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