Which decibel value most closely represents a power increase from 5 watts to 10 watts?

In radio electronics, decibels (dB) are used to express the ratio between two power levels. A fundamental rule of thumb to memorize is that a 3 dB increase indicates that the power has exactly doubled. To solve this problem, look at the starting and ending power values. The power increases from 5 watts to 10 watts. Since 10 is twice as much as 5, the power has doubled, meaning the change is +3 dB. A common mistake is simply subtracting the two wattage values (10 - 5 = 5) and choosing 5 dB, but decibels are logarithmic and based on ratios (multiplication or division), not simple arithmetic subtraction.