Based on the production possibilities curve for books and pencils shown, what is the opportunity cost of producing a book?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

To assess the opportunity cost from the production possibilities curve (PPC) for books (y-axis) and pencils (x-axis), I’ll examine how an additional unit of one good affects the other.

Option 1: 30 pencils. If producing one more book required sacrificing 30 pencils, that would imply moving from (0 books, 30 pencils) to (1 book, 0 pencils). However, the PPC shows a straight line between (0, 10) and (30, 0). Producing one more book moves us along this line, not from full pencil production to zero; the maximum pencils sacrificed for a single book is not 30. Therefore 30 pencils is too high.

Option 2: 1/10 of a pencil. This would mean a single book costs only a very tiny amount of pencils, implying a nearly horizontal PPC segment with a huge ability to produce books without sacrificing pencils. The given PPC is a straight line with a fixed trade-off; sacrificing only 0.1 pencil per book would not align with the slope of this curve, so this option is incorrect.

Option 3: 1/3 of a pencil. Consider the slope of the PPC: the line runs from 10 books when pencils = 0 to 0 books when pencils = 30. The slope (change in books per change in pencils) is ΔBooks/ΔPencils = (0 − 10) / (30 − 0) = −10/30 = −1/3. This means for each additional pencil sacrificed, you gain 1/3 more book, or equivalently for each additional book produced, you must sacrifice 3 pencils. Thus 1/3 of a pencil per book is the inverse interpretation, but the opportunity cost of one more book is 3 pencils, not 1/3. So this option reflects the reciprocal rate and is not the correct interpretation as stated.

Option 4: 3 pencils. This matches the magnitude of the slope: producing one more book costs 3 pencils, since 10 books require 30 pencils, so per book = 30/10 = 3 pencils. This is consistent with the straight-line PPC between the endpoints and correctly captures the opportunity cost.

Option 5: 10 pencils. That would imply moving from 0 to a single book costs 10 pencils, which would misrepresent the linear trade-off along the curve. The PPC shows a proportional trade-off across the entire curve, and a single-book increase uses up 3 pencils, not 10.

In summary, the only option that aligns with the given PPC slope and the corresponding trade-off is that producing a book costs 3 pencils.

AP Economics-Hillebrand AP Microeconomics Sem 1 Exam 2025 - Requires Respondus LockDown Browser

Based on the production possibilities curve for books and pencils shown, what is the opportunity cost of producing a book?

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AP Economics-Hillebrand AP Microeconomics Sem 1 Exam 2025 - Requires Respondus LockDown Browser

Based on the production possibilities curve for books and pencils shown, what is the opportunity cost of producing a book?

查看解析

登录即可查看完整答案

类似问题

What distinguishes short-run opportunity cost from long-run opportunity cost?

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What is the most likely outcome of an economic policy based on the "Broken Window Fallacy"?

The "Broken Window Fallacy" argues that destruction can actually help the economy.

The "Broken Window Fallacy" argues that destruction can actually help the economy.

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考试浏览器助手

风格化写作助手

论文查重助手

文献引用助手

课堂转译助手

课堂笔记助手

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学校历年真题

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希望你的学习变得更简单

The following PPF best represents _; in this case, _.