3.2 Demand Schedules and Demand Curves
Notes
- A demand schedule is a table of the quantity demanded at each price.
- A demand curve graphs that schedule with price on the vertical axis and quantity on the horizontal axis. It slopes downward from left to right, showing the law of demand.
- Market demand is the total of all individual buyers' quantities demanded at each price. Add across each row.
| Price per smoothie | Ana | Ben | Market demand |
|---|---|---|---|
| $3 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| $4 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| $5 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
- Worked example: at $4, Ana buys 4 and Ben buys 3, so market quantity demanded is $4 + 3 = 7$.
Practice
At $6 per ticket, three buyers want 5, 3 and 2 tickets. What is the market quantity demanded at $6?
Add the quantities at the same price: $5 + 3 + 2 = 10$.
On a standard demand curve, as you move down the curve from left to right:
The downward slope shows that lower prices bring larger quantities demanded.
A demand schedule shows 40 cups of cocoa demanded at $2 and 25 cups at $3. The schedule shows that when the price rises by $1, the quantity demanded:
$40 - 25 = 15$ fewer cups, consistent with the law of demand.
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