Final answer:
A cheeseburger is likely more elastic than air conditioning in Mississippi (MS) during August because it has more substitutes and is less of a necessity, leading to a higher responsiveness to price changes.
Step-by-step explanation:
In economics, when determining whether a good is elastic or inelastic, we look at how much the quantity demanded of the good responds to a price change. The elasticity of demand for a good depends on the availability of substitutes, necessity, proportion of income spent on the good, and the time period considered. In the example given, we need to decide which is more elastic between a cheeseburger or air conditioning in Mississippi (MS) during August.
In the heat of August in MS, air conditioning becomes closer to a necessity as temperatures can soar to uncomfortable and even dangerous levels. The demand for air conditioning is likely to be relatively inelastic because people need to keep cool, and there are few substitutes for air conditioning when dealing with extreme heat. A cheeseburger, on the other hand, has many substitutes (such as other types of fast food or home-cooked meals), implying that if the price of a cheeseburger increases, consumers can easily switch to another food item. Therefore, even small price changes could lead to a larger change in the quantity demanded for cheeseburgers compared to air conditioning.
Hence, given these factors, a cheeseburger is likely more elastic than air conditioning in MS in August because it has more substitutes and is less of a necessity.