Suppose you won \(15 on a lotto ticket at the local 7-Eleven and decided to spend all the winnings on candy bars and bags of peanuts. Candy bars cost \)0.75 each, while bags of peanuts cost \(1.50 each.

  1. Construct a table showing the alternative combinations of the two products that are available.
  2. Plot the data in your table as a budget line in a graph. What is the slope of the budget line? What is the opportunity cost of one more candy bar? What is the opportunity cost of one more bag of peanuts? Do these opportunity costs rise, fall, or remain constant as additional units are purchased?
  3. Does the budget line tell you which of the available combinations of candy bars and bags of peanuts to buy?
  4. Suppose thatyou had won \)30 on your ticketnot \(15. Show the \)30 budget line in your diagram. Has the number of available combinations increased or decreased?

Short Answer

Expert verified

(a) The table showing the alternative combinations of the two products is as follows.

X

0

4

8

12

16

20

Y

10

8

6

4

2

0

(b) The budget line is as shown in the graph below.


The slope of the budget line is 0.5.

The opportunity cost for 1 more candy bar is a half unit of peanut.

The opportunity cost for 1 more bag of peanuts is 2 candy bars.

These opportunity costs remain constant.

(c) No, the budget line does not tell which of the available combinations to buy.

(d) The shift in the budget line is as shown below.

Yes, the number of available combinations has increased.

Step by step solution

01

Explanation for part 'a'

Let the units of the candy bar be x, and the units of a bag of peanuts be y. The budget line equation is

15=0.75x+1.5y

The table for the alternative combinations can be made as follows.

X

0

4

8

12

16

20

Y

10

8

6

4

2

0

For some arbitrary values of x commodity, the budget line equation can be solved for y commodity, such that the $15 budget is fully exhausted.

02

Explanation for part 'b'

By taking the values of alternative combinations from the above table, the budget line will be as follows.

The slope of the budget line can be estimated as below.

Slope=yx=24=0.5

For consuming 4 candy bars, you will have to sacrifice 2 bags of peanuts.

opportunitycost=24=0.5

Therefore, the opportunity cost for 1 candy bar is 0.5 units of peanut.

For consuming 2 bags of peanuts, you will have to sacrifice 4 candy bars.

opportunitycost=42=2

Therefore, the opportunity cost for 1 bag of peanuts is 2 candy bars.

03

Explanation for part 'c'

No, the budget line does not tell which combination should be purchased because it does not specify which good or combination gives maximum utility. It does not clarify the number of bags of peanut and candy bars to purchase.

04

Explanation for part 'd'

As the budget has increased twice and the relative prices are constant, the number of possible combinations will also increase according to the new equation.


30=0.75x+1.5y

The table for the possible combinations is as follows.

X

0

4

8

12

16

20

24

28

32

36

40

Y

20

18

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0



Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!

  • Full Textbook Solutions

    Get detailed explanations and key concepts

  • Unlimited Al creation

    Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...

  • Ads-free access

    To over 500 millions flashcards

  • Money-back guarantee

    We refund you if you fail your exam.

Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with Vaia!

One App. One Place for Learning.

All the tools & learning materials you need for study success - in one app.

Get started for free

Most popular questions from this chapter

Pham can work as many or as few hours as she wants at the college bookstore for \(12 per hour. But due to her hectic schedule, she has just 15 hours per week that she can spend working at either the bookstore or other potential jobs. One potential job at a café will pay her \)15 per hour for up to 6 hours per week. She has another job offer at a garage that will pay her \(13 an hour for up to 5 hours per week. And she has a potential job at a daycare center that will pay her \)11.50 per hour for as many hours as she can work. If her goal is to maximize the amount of money she can make each week, how many hours will she work at the bookstore?

Potatoes cost Janice \(1 per pound, and she has \)5.00 that she could possibly spend on potatoes or other items. If she feels that the first pound of potatoes is worth \(1.50, the second pound is worth \)1.14, the third pound is worth \(1.05, and all subsequent pounds are worth \)0.30 per pound, how many pounds of potatoes will she purchase? How many pounds will she purchase if she has only $2 to spend?

Suppose that you are given a \(100 budget at work that can be spent only on two items: staplers and pens. If staplers cost \)10 each and pens cost $2.50 each, then the opportunity cost of purchasing one stapler is

a. 10 pens.

b. 5 pens.

c. zero pens.

d. 4 pens.

Suppose that you initially have \(100 to spend on books or movie tickets. The books start off costing \)25 each, and the movie tickets start off costing \(10 each. For each of the following situations, would the attainable set of combinations that you can afford increase or decrease?

a. Your budget increases from \)100 to \(150, while the prices stay the same.

b. Your budget remains \)100, and the price of books remains \(25, but the price of movie tickets rises to \)20.

c. Your budget remains \(100, and the price of movie tickets remains \)10, but the price of a book falls to $15.

Match each term with the correct definition.

• Economics

• Opportunity cost

• Marginal analysis

• Utility

e. The next-best thing that must be forgone in order to produce one more unit of a given product

f. The pleasure, happiness, or satisfaction obtained from consuming a good or service

g. The social science concerned with how individuals, institutions, and society make optimal (best) choices under conditions of scarcity

h. Making choices based on comparing marginal benefits with marginal costs

See all solutions

What do you think about this solution?

We value your feedback to improve our textbook solutions.

Study anywhere. Anytime. Across all devices.

Sign-up for free