If the weight of the vehicle is doubled, how must the stopping power be increased?

When considering the relationship between a vehicle's weight and its stopping power, it's important to recognize how weight influences the forces involved in braking. The stopping power of a vehicle is determined by its ability to counteract the force generated by its weight during deceleration.

If the weight of a vehicle is doubled, the force due to gravity acting on it also doubles. However, since stopping power is directly related to the vehicle's weight, the required braking force to bring the vehicle to a stop also must be doubled. This means the braking system needs sufficient capability to exert twice the force to achieve the same stopping distance under the increased weight conditions.

Increasing the stopping power to three or four times the original amount would be excessive for simply doubling the weight, as the relationship is linear. Thus, it's not necessary to increase the stopping power beyond double, ensuring that the braking system can still effectively slow down the vehicle according to the new weight.

Therefore, doubling the stopping power is the correct response to effectively stop a vehicle when its weight is doubled, demonstrating the straightforward, proportional nature of this relationship in braking physics.