Question

Below, you are given the total revenue and total cost associated with producing and selling different quantities of a good. You will use this information to identify the marginal revenue and marginal cost associated with producing different quantities of the good and the profit associated with each quantity. Lastly, you will identify a rule for maximizing profit.

Scott's Sundaes is an ice cream shop, famous for its root beer floats. Scott's Sundaes is the only ice cream shop in town. The table below provides the total revenue and total cost associated with selling different quantities of root beer floats.
Price of Quants Total Marginal Total Marginal Profit
floats of floats revenue revenue cost Cost
$7.50 0 $5
$7.00 1 $6
$6.50 2 $8
$6.00 3 $11
$5.50 4 $15
$5.00 5 $20
$4.50 6 $26
$4.00 7

Answer 1

Fixed costs are the relatively stable, ongoing costs of operating a business that are not dependent on production levels. They include general overhead expenses such as salaries and wages, building rental payments or utility costs. Variable costs, meanwhile, are those directly related to, and that vary with, production levels, such as the cost of materials used in production or the cost of operating machinery in the process of production.

Total production costs include all the expenses of producing products at current levels. As an example, a company that makes 150 widgets has production costs for all 150 units it produces. The marginal cost of production is the cost of producing one additional unit.