Does terminal velocity matter in terms of black holes? I think we all know that black holes are considered inescapable but I was looking at terminal velocity and became interested in finding out if black holes follow the rules of terminal velocity. For example, a penny has a terminal velocity of about 30-50 miles per hour, but what would happen if the penny were theoretically placed near a black hole would the penny only be able to travel as fast as its defined terminal velocity?
 A: Terminal velocity is dependent only on drag - it is not the "top speed" of an object, but rather, an equilibrium between an object's current speed and the forces trying to slow it down. The terminal velocity of a skydiver, for example, is reached when the force of gravity accelerating the individual downward is balanced by the force of air resistance, which slows the individual's descent. A skydiver who is moving slower than terminal velocity (one who's just left the plane) will eventually accelerate to terminal velocity, while someone moving faster than terminal velocity (unusual, but possible if the skydiver is shot out of a cannon toward the ground) will actually decelerate to terminal velocity.
Drag itself is a function of an object's physical properties like shape and density, as well as the medium through which the object is moving. There is no matter in the vacuum of space, so there is essentially zero drag - moving objects in space can coast forever, they do not slow down like they do when traveling through an atmosphere. Objects in space do not have a terminal velocity, because there is nothing to slow them down. 
If the penny does encounter matter around the black hole, that will provide some drag which would prevent the penny from accelerating without bound, in which case you would have a terminal velocity - but the makeup of that matter will be very different from the earth's atmosphere, so the terminal velocity value of a penny in air won't be applicable. Generally, a dense/viscous medium will yield more drag and a lower terminal velocity, while a less dense/viscous medium will yield less drag and a higher terminal velocity. In the limit of a zero density medium (the vacuum of space), the terminal velocity is unbounded.
