Final answer:
Consumer surplus at the equilibrium price is calculated as the area below the demand curve and above the price line at equilibrium quantity. In this case, consumer surplus is 338 when the equilibrium price is 34 and the equilibrium quantity is 26.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine consumer surplus at the equilibrium price, we first need to find the equilibrium by setting the market demand (QD) and market supply (QS) equations equal to each other. However, there seems to be an error in the provided equations.
Solving this equation, we add P to both sides and add 8 to both sides, which gives us 60 = 2P − 8. Adding 8 to both sides, we get 2P = 68 and dividing by 2 gives us P = 34. Thus, the equilibrium price (P) is 34, and the equilibrium quantity (Q) is 26 (60 − 34 or 34 − 8).
To calculate consumer surplus at this equilibrium, we take the area of the triangle under the demand curve but above the price line up to the equilibrium quantity. The formula for consumer surplus is 0.5 * (base * height), where the base is the equilibrium quantity and the height is the difference between the maximum price consumers are willing to pay and the equilibrium price.