Table 1.3 shows the hypothetical trade-off between different combinations of brushes and combs that might be produced in a year with the limited capacity for Country X,ceteris paribus.Complete the table by calculating the required opportunity costs for brushes and combs.
- On the basis of your calculations in Table 1.3,in the production range of 21 to 23 brushes the opportunity cost of producing more comb in terms of brushes is
A)1/21.
B)21/23.
C)1/2.
D)4.

Question

Table 1.3 shows the hypothetical trade-off between different combinations of brushes and combs that might be produced in a year with the limited capacity for Country X,ceteris paribus.Complete the table by calculating the required opportunity costs for brushes and combs. 
- On the basis of your calculations in Table 1.3,in the production range of 21 to 23 brushes the opportunity cost of producing more comb in terms of brushes is
A)1/21. 
B)21/23. 
C)1/2. 
D)4.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To determine the opportunity cost, we divide the amount of the item being given up by the amount of the item being gained. For example, the opportunity cost of producing 1 more comb is equal to the number of brushes that must be given up to produce that comb.

In the table, we can see that the opportunity cost for producing the first comb is 1 brush (0 brushes produced -> 1 comb produced). The opportunity cost for producing the second comb is 1/2 a brush (1 brush produced -> 2 combs produced). Similarly, the opportunity cost for producing the third comb is 1/3 of a brush.

As we increase production of combs, the opportunity cost per comb increases. This is because as we produce more combs, we have to give up more brushes to produce each additional comb.

In the production range of 21 to 23 brushes, we can see that the opportunity cost of producing more combs in terms of brushes is 1/2. This means that for each additional comb produced in this range, a producer would have to give up 1/2 of a brush.

Therefore, the best choice would be to produce 22 brushes and 11 combs. This is because producing more combs beyond this point would increase the opportunity cost beyond 1/2 of a brush per comb.

Table 13 Shows the Hypothetical Trade-Off Between Different Combinations of Brushes