A spherical ball is dropped in a long column of a viscous liquid. The speed (v) of the ball as a function of time (t) may be best represented by

Step-by-step solution

When a spherical ball falls in a viscous liquid, viscous drag increases with speed. Initially acceleration is high, but drag force gradually balances weight. Hence, the ball approaches a constant terminal velocity asymptotically. The v-𝑡 curve starts steeply, then flattens out toward a constant value. Therefore, the correct representation is (2). ✅