Question

The vehicles energy of motion is proportional to the _____ of its speed. If you double your speed your vehicle will have _____ times as much energy of motion and will need ____ times as much distance to stop.

Answer 1

The kinetic energy of a vehicle is proportional to the square of its speed, causing quadrupled energy and stopping distance when speed is doubled.

Step-by-step explanation:

The vehicle's energy of motion is proportional to the square of its speed. If you double your speed, your vehicle will have four times as much energy of motion and will need four times as much distance to stop. This is because kinetic energy is directly proportional to the square of the velocity, which means if the speed is doubled from, say 50 km/h to 100 km/h, the kinetic energy will increase by a factor of 22, which is 4. Thus, to stop a car going twice as fast, it would require four times the stopping distance given the same deceleration force.