32 Unit 1 The Economic System
amount of a product or service producers are willing to provide. Demand
is the quantity of a product or service consumers are willing to buy. Both
supply and demand are closely connected to price.
For example, suppose you own a gym shoe company. When you price
them at $80 a pair, you sell 1,000 pairs. At $40 each, you sell 3,000 pairs.
When the chart’s coordinates are plotted on a graph and connected, they
form a line called the demand curve. Price and demand move in opposite direc-
tions, so the curve has a negative slope. This illustrates the law of demand—the
higher the price of a good or service, the less of it consumers will demand.
As a producer, you want to sell your goods for the highest possible
price. If you think you can get $80 for each pair of sneakers, you would
want to produce more. If you think you can only get $20 a pair, you would
want to produce less.
When the chart’s coordinates are plotted on a graph and connected,
they form a line called the supply curve. Price and supply tend to move
in the same direction, so the curve has a positive slope. This illustrates
the law of supply—the higher the price of a good or service, the higher the
quantity supplied by producers.
Equilibrium
The laws of supply and demand work together. When demand and sup-
ply are relatively balanced, the market is said to be in equilibrium. Equilibrium
is the approximate point at which the supply and demand curves inter-
sect, 1-6. It is the price at which the quantity supplied equals the quantity
demanded. This is when the market is operating at maximum effi ciency.
Equilibrium is more of an idea than a reality. Markets are usually not
in equilibrium. Changes in supply or demand trigger price adjustments.
When a price for a product is set too high, products stack up on store
shelves. When a price is set too low, there are shortages.
What conditions might cause price to increase? Prices rise when the
demand for an item is greater than the supply, or when demand rises and
supply remains the same. For instance, airline ticket prices are highest
during peak travel times. Seasonal foods become more expensive when
the season ends and they become less plentiful. Food prices also rise when
crops are lost to severe weather.
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to...Math
Graph Reading Graph Reading
A candy company sells 5,000 candy bars a
day when they are priced at $1 each. When the
company raises the price to $1.25, it sells 4,500 a
day at the higher price.
Draw a graph and plot the coordinates.
Approximately how many candy bars would they
sell per day if they were priced at $1.50 each?
Math