Given the table demonstrating the law of diminishing marginal utility below, what is the value of X?
|
No. of oranges Consumed |
Total Utility | Average Utility |
Marginal Utility |
| 1 | 9 | 9 | – |
| 2 | 16 | 8 | x |
| 3 | 24 | 8 | 6 |
| 4 | 30 | 7.5 | 4 |
| 5 | 34 | 6.8 | y |
| 6 | 36 | 6 | 2 |
| 7 | 36 | 5.1 | 0 |
- 0.5
-
7
- 0
- 8
The correct answer is: B
Explanation
The Marginal Utility is the additional satisfaction a consumer gains from consuming one more unit of a good or service. It can be calculated by subtracting the total utility of the previous consumption from the total utility of the current consumption. In this case, the total utility of consuming 2 oranges is 16 and the total utility of consuming 1 orange is 9. Therefore, the marginal utility (X) of the second orange is 16 - 9 = 7.